


Keep Your Enemies Close but Your Friends Closer

by Lansfics7



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A lot - Freeform, A request!, Angst, Avengers - Freeform, Avengers Family, Bashing Team Cap, Brainwashing, Father- son relationship, Happy endings?, Hurt Peter, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt and pain a lot of it, Hydra (Marvel), I will add more tags I promise, Irondad, Kidnapped Peter, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Lots of Angst, Love you 3000, Marvel Universe, Must Read, POV Peter Parker, POV Steve Rogers, POV Tony Stark, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is a Mess, Please Don't Kill Me, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sarcasm, Sassy Peter, Sassy Tony Stark, This One's Gonna Hurt, Thor isnt here, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is more than a mentor, Torture, Worried Tony Stark, edge of seat, hate me all u want, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-05-31 04:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 71,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19418677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lansfics7/pseuds/Lansfics7
Summary: My first request!Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers would do absolutely anything for each other. Steve is faced with the toughest decision of his life when offered an ultimatum. Bucky's death on his hands after a mission gone wrong, or trading in Spiderman for his best friend.On the other hand, Tony Stark and Peter Parker would do absolutely anything for each other. So when Peter is kidnapped, Tony will stop at nothing to get the kid back, the kid who's become like a son to him and he swears he will kill whoever is responsible.When the two paths meet...





	1. An Eye for an Eye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mouth_breather011](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=mouth_breather011).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Sooner release than expected because WHY NOT?!) A little on the short side because it's the first chapter, I'm easing in. Setting up the chemistry between characters with a general, not so focused POV for right now. Also starting this fic off with some action!
> 
> Just FYI? I'm Team Stark and Irondad is amazing fight me :) So sorry for all you Cap lovers.  
> Also important note: The Avengers team knows Spiderman and Peter, but do NOT know they are the same person. (Except for Tony and Pepper ofc)

**Present Day**

"Steve! We have to go!" Tony yelled, blocking Steve's path to the entrance.

"I can't hold them much longer Tony," Hawkeye warned from the ramp on the jet, his arm a blur as he shot arrows. Everyone was already on it, ready to leave. Everyone except for 3. One wasn't going to make it. One was trying to save him. And one was trying to save the other.

"I can't leave him!" Steve rushed forward only for Tony to push him backward. Steve stared at him in disbelief trying to get past him, "Tony we can still-"

"No! Steve look at me," Tony said firmly as the fight got more physical, "You can't-" He blocked a swipe Cap made with his shield with his arm, eyeing him warily. The two engaged in a struggle, their arms locked and Tony finally cursed under his breath and blew Cap backward with a pulse from his palm.

Steve landed in the torn up and charred grass and he struggled to his feet, groaning and already starting forward but Tony had finally gotten a hold on his wrists. "Cap! Steve! That's enough," Tony yelled. "They're already inside. You go back in and they'll kill you. You hear me? You go back in, you die!"

Steve knew he was right. He grit his teeth as hard as he could and shoved Tony off him, yelling a curse at the top of his lungs with a broken voice. Glaring at Tony, even though he knew he had just saved his life, Steve turned around, almost pulling at his hair as he jogged backward and headed for the jet. Steve's breathing was rapid and he picked up his pace, turning it into a sprint. He jumped for the jet and rolled inside as it took off, Tony landing beside him.

The ramp closed up and the jet sped off, the last of the bullets that were on target pinging off the back. Then they were in the sky after one small jolt.  
Spiderman stumbled over, tapping Tony on the shoulder, "Wait but we left- Bucky's still- Tony what about-"

"I know kid," Tony said sadly.

"Oh," was all Spiderman said, sinking into a seat next to Wanda who was healing a gun shot graze on Sam.

Steve was still on the floor, shaking, every color dulled, ever sound muffled. There was a ringing in his ears and his eyes were clouded by hot tears of fury. His heart was filled with disbeliefe. He flinched as a flashback overtook him.

  
_"Buck! Bucky!"_

  
_The 4 HYDRA agents grabbed him from behind, shoving a syringe in his neck._

  
_Steve sprinted forward, only for a grenade to soar into his path. It sailed high and Steve batted it away determinedly but a second one landed a few feet from him, already rapidly blinking._

  
_"NOOOO!" Steve roared. He didn't slow down or speed up; neither would have made any difference. He just kept running, straight for it, because beyond that was his best friend that he had already lost once, getting dragged back into that hell hole._

_Steve grit his teeth, letting out a yell as the ground blew up in front of him, hurtling him backwards. He hit the ground tumbling, and lay on his back as his vision closed up, but not before he moved his head slightly and saw his best friend dragged back into that compound, his machine gun dropping from his hand. And the doors closed once he was inside._

  
Steve winced, his hand shaking. He blinked once and slowly stood, waving off Wanda who had finished healing Sam.

"Do you need me to-" she asked gently.

"I-I'm fine," he lied, leaning against the wall before he sank into a chair with his head in his hands. She couldn't heal these wounds.

"I'm sorry Steve," she whispered, rubbing his shoulder before she went over to Vision who put his arms around her.

Tony walked over with pursed lips, his head hanging, "Steve I- I'm sorry. We'll get him back." He clapped him on the shoulder but Steve barely felt it.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly, his voice trembling. He nodded at Tony with an apologetic gaze. Tony knew he would never get a thank you from Steve for saving his life, because to Steve all he had done was turn his back on his best friend. Tony nodded and then stepped back, giving Steve space.

Silence filled the ship.

No one knew what to say, or how to act, because this had never happened before. No one thought it would happen. Everyone was still shocked it had happened. Horror sank in as everyone realized they were in the air with one less person than when they had started.

**4 Hours Ago**

"Don't tase me Parker," Tony laughed, moving his hand away from where Peter was working.

"Sorry," Peter grinned, before he flawlessly completed fixing the rest of the Iron Man gauntlet.

He and Tony were working on fixing his suits at the compound living room. The rest of the Avengers were scattered around the room, most of them lounging on the couches or chairs. Wanda and Vision were talking, sitting on the same couch as Natasha. Bruce and Rhodey were in the 2 chairs. Sam and Bucky were arguing, leaning against the far wall. Steve and Clint were laughing, clinking their beers on the other couch.

"Peter, don't kill Iron Man please. We kinda need him," Rhodey smirked at the intern who gave him a sheepish smile as he handed over his finished work to the billionaire.

"Yeah, he pays for everything," Clint called from the couch. Steve chuckled next to him, crossing his arms.

Tony shook his head, suppressing a smile; he knew his fellow Avenger was kidding, "Love you too Legolas." Clint let out a loud laugh.

"Does it work?" Peter asked.

Tony wiggles his eyebrows, pressing the gauntlet on Peter's hand. The nano particles covered his forearm and Tony nodded at Peter, turning him around with a hand on his shoulder and pointing at the far wall, "Let it rip."

"Duck and cover," Sam called out, teasing the teenager.

Peter looked up nervously at Tony as he raised his arm and the Stark gave him an encouraging nod. Peter stuck out his tongue in concentration and let off a shot, hitting the far wall. Natasha whistled and Peter and Tony admired their prize: charred wallpaper and a broken picture frame from when it fell to the ground.

"Oh my..." Pepper came storming in furiously and Tony quickly stepped in front of Peter and transitioned the Iron Man gauntlet from the kid's hand to his before she could see.

Steve was the only one who caught the exchange and he held back a laugh. Tony winked at Peter before he turned back around who went from scared out of his mind to clearly relaxed from the fact that he was in the clear.

"Honey!" Tony said, scratching his head with the gauntlet and giving her a sheepish grin.

"Mhm." Pepper pursed her lips, "You're buying another one."

"Yes, yes I am," Tony grinned, nodding, accepting the punishment.

Pepper sighed and did her rounds of hello's before she kissed Tony on the cheek and put her hand on Peter's shoulder and gave Tony a sideways glance, "Is he being good?"

"We were just fixing a wire failure," Peter squeaked.

Pepper smiled and then turned, her gaze finding Cap next as she left the room. "Steve? You're the responsible one. Make sure he doesn't blow up the house."

"Yes ma'am," Steve grinned, nodding at her.

"You hear that Tony?" Rhodey called. "Think you can handle that?"

"Yeah, yeah yeah," Tony said, waving off his friend. "Hey. Don't make fun of the man who controls your war machine suit."

Whistles echoed the room. Steve laughed and then straightened, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He held it up and frowned, "Ross."

A chorus of groans echoed across the room.

"Tell him to screw off," Clint said as Steve walked away.

"God I hate him," Natasha sighed. A second later Steve was back in the room, his expression sober. Everyone turned.

"Vacation's off. They found a HYDRA base," he said slowly, giving a sideways glance to Bucky who straightened, taking a deep breath. "They want us to take it down and get back a piece of equipment that was stolen 4 months ago. Our window's tonight."

"Alright everyone, suit up," Tony announced.

"You have 10 minutes. Take what you need. Stealth assult, we'll take the jet," Steve said, already heading back to his room, "meet in Hanger 6."

Peter nodded at Tony, "I should go. I'll see you tomorrow though right? After school?"

"Yeah kid," Tony said, calling his suit and ruffling Peter's hair, "good work Pete." The Avengers all patted Peter on the shoulder or waved at him as they jogged down the hall to get their suits. 

"Bye Mr. Stark," Peter said seriously, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and jogging out the door, turning and giving Tony a look. "Be safe."

"Always am," Tony smiled after him. Peter walked out.

"Just call him son already," Clint teased, laughing and avoiding a jab from Tony.

"Is everyone here?" Steve asked, doing a headcount before they closed the door of the jet.

Spiderman swung in, pressing a button on the back of Sam's falcon wings, making them pop out. "Hey everyone. What'd I miss?"

Everyone loved the wall-crawler. Steve grinned as Spiderman took his place at Tony's side.

"Glad to see you kid," Steve nodded.

Spiderman had asked to keep his identity a secret, unlike everyone else in the jet. All they knew was what Tony had told them.  
Guy, in his 20's, caught Tony's attention on social media and was recruited by him. After their fight was over and everyone had reunited, there was an anonymous vote to add Spiderman to the team, and he had graciously accepted.

He didn't come by the compound often, only for major missions. Steve respected his reason though, because unlike the rest of the team, this guy would step in with the little things, earning the nickname the friendly 'neighborhood' Spiderman. No one knew his name, or his face. He was just a guy doing the right thing, helping out the little guy and saving the world at the same time.

"We're all here. Let's recap this mission," Steve announced. "Tony, you draw them out with some heavy fire."

"My pleasure," Tony said, arming the jet while Clint got it in the air.

"Clint, Sam will give you a nice perch to pick off the stragglers."

Clint shouted something muffled from the cockpit and Tony called back, "He said screw you Rogers I'm gonna go commando. I don't know exactly- ow," Tony laughed as Clint threw an empty container at him from the front and yelled,

"Not what I said!"

Steve smiled and looked down, chuckling and composing himself before he continued, "Viz, you'll lead a team inside with Nat, Wanda, and Bruce on the East side. Destroy what you can, kill who you can. These people don't deserve a trial. They've killed thousands, separated families, and would rather die than be taken back with us. So give them early graves," Steve said firmly.

The mood immediately sobered and there were looks around the jet; everyone understood how grave this mission was. There would be no prisoners. HYDRA didn't deserve prisoners.

"Then Bucky, myself, the kid, and Tony will head in the West wing and retrieve the piece of equipment stolen from a shield base. Sam and Rhodey you circle, draw their fire, keep them occupied and take out anything and everything attempting to leave."

"Got it," they nodded.

"You get hurt?" Sam shouted.

"Hurt em back," Natasha mocked.

"You get killed?" Tony grinned, shouldering his friend. "Come on Cap finish it."

"Walk it off," Cap laughed.

"You heard the old man," Sam nodded.

"Old?" Steve recoiled.

"You're 100 dude," Bucky grinned, putting a hand on his back.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Steve laughed, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Guys we're 10 minutes out," Clint came on the speakers. "Game faces."

Everyone divided into teams, setting up comms. Tony knocked over a folder sitting on the ledge and cussed, not knowing his helmet speaker was still on. 

"Steve? Tony said a bad word," Nat shook her head.

Rhodey pointed, "Cap doesn't like that language."

"Ok, it's been long enough now, what 3 years?" Steve said.

Tony clapped him on the back and winked, "4 actually. Never going away."

Clint and Nat switched places so he could make his way to the back with Sam. Nat landed the ship safely, reporting from her scanners that there was no activity yet. Their arrival had been a secret...so far. She opened the ramp and the cold air swirled into the ship. Tony flicked off the lights inside, his helmet shutting over his face. Vision's group went first, making their way out slowly. 

"I'm still not completely sure how I come in handy," Bruce whispers, wringing his hands in his normal nervous fashion. "If you want the element of surprise the Hulk isn't exactly subtle."

"We'll go code Green last resort. Wanda's got you covered for now," Nat assured, loading her pistols. Wanda nodded and led them down the ramp, her fingertips swirling with red magic. They dissapeared into the night after nodding at the second team. 

"Legolas let's go," Sam said. 

"I'm tired of that nickname," Clint grumbled, snatching his bow and arrows and jogging down the ramp. Sam grabbed his harness and then took off, shooting them both into the sky. Rhodes nodded to Tony before he followed them, keeping his suit silent.

"Stay on comms," Cap said, clicking his shield into place, Bucky at his side. Tony and Spiderman flanked them. 

"Ready?" Cap asked.

"Let's go," Tony nodded. They closed off the ship and walked out, going the opposite direction as their other team members. 

"I'm sensing an energy field around it. We're gonna have to split up. I can disarm it if I find an energy source. FRIDAY is scanning," Tony said. 

_"Source located."_

"I'm gonna poke it with a stick," Tony said, about to fire up his boots but Steve stopped him. 

"Tony no. Our advantage is the element of-"

They heard a huge roar from the other side of the compound. 

"I think the Hulk's out," Spiderman whispered, his lenses focusing.

"Element of what?" Tony smirked and Cap grinned, shaking his head. Tony saluted, "be right back."

Gun shots were already starting to sound from high up on the towers and roofs and Spiderman looked at him for the signal. 

"Do your thing," he nodded.

The wallcrawler nodded and jumped into the air, whooping and spiraling forward, the iron suit that he and Tony had used as a prototype glinting in the lights that were starting to come on throughout the compound. He shot a web and swung forward, flipping and landing on the platform flawlessly to take out the few men stationed at the watch towers and take down the guns that were being manned. Alarms blurted out and Steve heard men marching forward.

"Just like old time," Steve grinned. He and Bucky jumped out and started firing and fighting, taking down the first squadrant that had surfaced. 

Bucky threw him a grenade and Steve tore out the pin before lobbing it over his shoulder. Instead of falling down the steps to blow up a door, it bounced off an invisible barrier and exploded, setting a supply truck on fire. 

"Tony how's it coming with that shield?" Cap warned. 

"Drop your socks and grab your crocks," Tony announced, "we're about to get wet on this ride."

In the sky he saw Tony fire a missile. It exploded against the building and he saw the air around the compound shimmer and glow before it peeled away, the shield crumbling in on itself.

"Bullseye," Tony announced. 

"Advance at will," Steve spoke into comms.

 _"No we've just been hanging out,"_ Natasha drawled sarcastically. 

"You know what Romanoff," Steve grinned, throwing his shield and knocking out 3 HYDRA operatives before sliding forward and flipping the last guard who tried to retreat. Bucky took out 4 more, 2 to their left and 2 to their right.

"Are we doing the counting thing again?" Spiderman called, flipping and webbing 3 agents who had just circled around the corner. "Because if so, I'm at 11."

"Show off," Tony said, landing next to him, "I'm at...12." He fired a shot at a HYDRA operative who had just peeked out behind a wall. "13."

Steve broke the lock and kicked the door down, holding up his shield to stop the gunfire that came at him the minute he walked in. He flung his shield and it did a loop around half of the room, Tony sliding in on one knee and beaming down the other half. Spiderman and Bucky picked off the stragglers and finished off the rest. 

"Stark, do you have the blueprints?" Steve asked, approaching slowly. 

"Do I have the blueprints," Tony scoffed, "Yeah. A left a couple rights, over the river and through the woods. To grandmother's house we go. Follow me."

"Spiderman, stay here, make sure no one gets through that door," Steve instructed.

"Instant kill if you have to. Be s _afe._ " Tony demanded.

The kid gave a thumbs up, "Always am."

Tony waved him off and then jogged down the hall with Bucky and Steve, who tried to remember where he had heard that exchange before.

Bucky shivered, "I remember this place. Each compound has the same layout. They probably locked these doors up here. They have multiple levels of shut down mode and the door coming up is always the first line of defense."

Sure enough, the doors were locked and Tony motioned for them to step back, "I got this."

Bucky put a hand on Stark's arm, lowering it and shaking his head. "We can go around. Those doors were meant to withstand huge missile blasts and titanium Stark. It will take you a while. I know another way," Bucky said, already starting down the hallway. 

Bucky took the lead, turning the corner sharply and firing at oncoming agents. Tony let a few missiles fly, closing the door on another group and blasting 5 others down the hallway with the help of a ricochette of Cap's shield. 

"They lined up for that, that was perfect," Tony said. 

"This way," Bucky said. He felt the walls, "This corridor was hidden so if the prisoners rebelled, the guards would have safe passage back to the main center. But it should loop back around to where we need to go."

"There's an air current," Tony pointed, pushing slightly on the wall that caved in and moved to the side, revealing a hallway. 

Bucky entered first, then Steve, then Tony bringing up the rear, blasting an agent that tried to follow. 

Steve put a hand to his, "How are we doing team?"

 _"Almost clear here,"_ Wanda's voice came back to him, _"Almost."_

 _"We had to give code green. Vision says that there's another wave coming, but so far no one has gotten out completely. Rhodey, Clint and Sam are taking care of stragglers,"_ Natasha reported. 

_"Yeah I'd send you all a post card, but...kinda busy."_ Clint's voice crackled through the speakers.

"Kid? You hanging in there?" Tony asked.

 _"Thank God we made this suit bullet proof because- hey buddy I think you lost this-"_ There was gunfire in the background as Spiderman reported, speaking threw sighs of exhaustion and short quips that were the clear hand me down from Tony. _"I'm- handling it. Going great."_

"He's good," Tony assured. 

"We're almost to the check point," Steve said, slamming his shield into a man and throwing him into the 2 approaching. He flipped his shield and kicked it, leveling the man behind both of them. He walked over and stomped on the side of the shield, catching it midair and returning it to his arm. 

"Do you have to be so cool when you do that?" Tony mocked. 

"Guys, here," Bucky announced, shooting off the door lock.

"I'll cover you," Tony said, positioning himself at Cap's side as Steve forced the door open with all of his might. Bucky shot over Tony's shoulder as he blasted beam after beam. Steve slipped through the door last and rolled, coming up and slamming his shield into an agents chest before knocking another one out across the room. 

"Which one?" Bucky asked, referring to the layers of locked crates..

"Scanning," Tony announced, reporting through his blasts. "Uhhhhh 6th down. 4th row from your right hand. You're other right hand."

Bucky shot through the glass and Cap came over, leaving Tony to take care of the rest of the agents. He broke through the case as Bucky covered him and grabbed the converter. 

"Got it," he told Tony.

"Nice party down the hall if you want to take them out," Tony motioned over his shoulder. 

Steve handed off the converter to Tony who's suit opened to enclose it inside, "Well they're excited."

 _"Guys we've got a problem!"_ Rhodey yelled in comms, static overtaking his voice.

Clint took over, _"Sam's been hit. His wings down and he's got a nice graze. He'll be good but he's down for right now. Rhodey's covering him, but that leaves us with just me taking the skies. Either one of you get out here, or we all call it a day and leave them to lick their wounds,"_ Clint said.

"Sam you good?" Steve asked.

 _"Yeah, I just won't be passing you up at running for the next couple days,"_ he groaned.

 _"Steve, do you have the package?"_ Wanda asked over the sound of gunfire. 

"Stark does," Steve said, breaking a door lock and slamming an agent through a window, picking up his gun and firing at the rest of the approaching agents. He batted a grenade back into the room and Bucky closed the door. The room blew up, smoke rising in front of the window.

"So we fall back," Vision announced.

 _"He speaks!"_ Tony joked, and Cap could hear his voice in his ear and through the wall. _"Vision do we have a clear path out of here? FRIDAY can't get heat signatures, there's too much fire everywhere."_

 _"Yes,"_ Vision responded.

"Then I say we get the heck out of here. We can't let them circle us or we'll be done for and we've thinned out enough," Steve decided. 

"What's the play Cap?" Tony asked for conformation, blasting through a wall by his side.

Steve bit back a curse and clicked his shield into place. "Fall back."

Peter ran through the hallway, webbing up guards and engaging in hand to hand when he needed the adrenaline rush. "Tony? Tony, do you copy?"

He was on their private server. 

_"Pete where are you?"_ Tony relayed back; he had obviously muted his outside mic.

"West hallway. I kinda got turned around. Karen can't track you yet, too much heat," Peter said angrily.

_"I've got your signal, I'm coming kid. Stay put."_

"Kind hard to do at the moment!" Peter yelped, flinging himself through a wall in attempt to get away from another grenade.

 _"Why?"_ Tony snarled. 

"Ummmm, no reason. Just being chased by a lot of angry guys with grenade launchers. I'm trying to lead them to hulk. I've already gotten blown up once, and it was not fun," Peter panted, following the roars of the Hulk from a couple hallways down. "Turns out? I work better in not enclosed spaces. Oh shoot-" 

_"I swear to God-"_ Tony hissed.

A grenade bounced off the wall and landed right behind Peter who couldnt swing forward fast enough. He was blown off his feet, crashing to the floor, crying out in pain as he tumbled to a stop, his head hitting the wall. Peter crumpled, groaning as he slowly lifted his head, wincing.

_"PETER!"_

"Tony-" Peter struggled to get to his elbows, breathing hard as the 7 men advanced forward, guns pointing directly at his chest.

Just then Tony burst through the wall to the left. 

He looked down the hall at the agents and quickly stepped in front of Peter and fired up a massive missile,s snarling, "Don't _touch_ my kid."

He blew up the whole hallway, turning and sliding to the floor to shield Peter from the blast. The dust settled and Tony let go of Peter and helped him to his feet. They both turned around, looking at the hallway collapsed into charred rubble. 

"Cool," Peter said happily. 

"I'm at 43," Tony then blurted.

"40," Peter grumbled. Tony laughed. 

"Are you ok?" Tony asked, his hand on Peter's shoulder. 

"I had that all under control Tony, I was fine," Peter grinned.

"Yeah, sure you did," Tony rolled his eyes.

Steve and Bucky ran in at the other end of the hallway, "Let's go. There's a fight outside. Clint needs help. Then we're out of here."

_"I'll cover you," Bucky said._

_"You need help!" Steve insisted._

_"i can hold the line. Go!" Bucky said, firing and taking out an approaching guard as if to prove a point._

_Steve nodded, running forward to help Wanda with a truck trying to drive away. Spiderman swung over him, webbing the back of another truck and yanking as hard as he could before he dove forward, his spider legs coming out and slashing through the back tires. Natasha dove into the truck and it shook, guns firing. She then jumped out and it exploded behind her, Spiderman picking her up and swinging her away from the blast._

_Vision came out and together he and Wanda crushed the 3 exits in, collapsing the first half of the building._

_Tony was making his way to the ship and he handed off the converter to Sam who was already in the jet, Rhodey circling. Clint was on the ground now, taking out who he could. Steve slammed his shoulder into an agent and swung him, giving him an extra boost with a shield to the chest. He crashed into the other approaching guys and Tony landed by his side, bouncing another beam off his shield to blast through the rest of the oncoming agents._

_He was by his side when they heard the strangled scream and the absence of the machine gun fire._

_Steve turned and he tensed, starting to jog forward._

_"Buck! Bucky!"_

_4 HYDRA agents grabbed him from behind, surrounding him. Bucky fought them, but these were different men than before. These were smart and 3 held him down while the 4th one circled him, shoving a syringe in his neck. They had been gunning for him. And Steve had left him alone._

_Steve sprinted forward, only for a grenade to soar into his path. It sailed high and Steve batted it away determinedly but a second one landed a few feet from him, already rapidly blinking._

_"NOOOO!" Steve roared. He didn't slow down or speed up; neither would have made any difference. He just kept running, straight for it, because beyond that was his best friend that he had already lost once, getting dragged back into that hell hole._

_Steve grit his teeth, letting out a yell as the ground blew up in front of him, hurtling him backwards. He hit the ground tumbling, and lay on his back as his vision closed up, but not before he moved his head slightly and saw his best friend dragged compound, his machine gun dropping from his hand. And the doors closed once he was inside._

_He got to his feet, breathing hard, ready to run back and slam that door open and get his friend back._

_"Steve! We have to go!" Tony yelled, blocking Steve's path to the entrance._

_"I can't hold them much longer Tony," Hawkeye warned from the ramp on the jet, his arm a blur as he shot arrows. Everyone was already on it, ready to leave. Everyone except for 3. One wasn't going to make it. One was trying to save him. And one was trying to save the other._

_"I can't leave him!" Steve rushed forward only for Tony to push him backward. Steve stared at him in disbelief trying to get past him, "Tony we can still-"_

_"No! Steve look at me," Tony said firmly as the fight got more physical, "You can't-" He blocked a swipe Cap made with his shield with his arm, eyeing him warily. The two engaged in a struggle, their arms locked and Tony finally cursed under his breath and blew Cap backward with a pulse from his palm._

_Steve landed in the torn up and charred grass and he struggled to his feet, groaning and already starting forward but Tony had finally gotten a hold on his wrists. "Cap! Steve! That's enough," Tony yelled. "They're already inside. You go back in and they'll kill you. You hear me? You go back in, you die!"_

_Steve knew he was right. He grit his teeth as hard as he could and shoved Tony off him, yelling a curse at the top of his lungs with a broken voice. Glaring at Tony, even though he knew he had just saved his life, Steve turned around, almost pulling at his hair as he jogged backward and headed for the jet. Steve's breathing was rapid and he picked up his pace, turning it into a sprint. He jumped for the jet and rolled inside as it took off, Tony landing beside him._

_The ramp closed up and the jet sped off, the last of the bullets that were on target pinging off the back. Then they were in the sky after one small jolt._  
_Spiderman stumbled over, tapping Tony on the shoulder, "Wait but we left- Bucky's still- Tony what about-"_

_"I know kid," Tony said sadly._

**Present Day**

Oh how moods can change.

The ship touched down back at the compound and the team got off, helping one another down the ramp. Steve caught up to Sam, slinging his arm around him. Sam winced as he walked, his bullet wound only partially healed from Wanda.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I'll live," Sam said through gritted teeth before he squeezed Cap's shoulder, "I mean, I've got to. We've got to get that annoying metal armed iceman back don't we?" he nodded.

"Yeah," Steve said sadly.

They made it inside and Bruce helped Sam off to the med bay. Spiderman went with Tony to return the piece of equipment and tear Ross up for not having their backup ready. The rest of the Avengers went back to their rooms to try and wrap their heads around what had just happened. Even though they had won; they had. They had accomplished the mission. They had lost more, which canceled out the win.

They had lost a solider.

Steve had lost a best friend.

He didn't know how long he sat there but Steve sat there for a long time.

Head in his hands.

Shaking.

Trying to focus.

Blocking out everyone and everything.

Replaying the scene over and over of when his best friend was dragged through those doors. He went through it in his mind and each time he tried to do something different, try something else- every time it ended the same.

Bucky gone, and Steve turning his back on him the minute he took one foot towards that jet.

"Steve, hey," Natasha came over and put a hand on his shoulder, jolting him out of his state.

"Hey," Steve offered.

"Sam is healing. Should be fine in a couple of days. The rest of the team is...shaken up, but we'll bounce back. We'll go get him Steve, I promise," She assured him before she nudged him gently. "How about you? How are you holding up?"

Steve looked at her and didn't answer for a while. Then he took a breath, "I lost Bucky before. And it just felt like it happened all over again."

"We'll get him back Steve. We will. We need to regroup and recover and we'll go in first thing," Natasha promised.

"Thanks," Steve said, his worries still not calmed.

"Hey, so look, there's a meeting. Talking about what went wrong, and there's a live video for a scavenger SQUAT team that's heading in. HYDRA abandoned that base after we left. Tony's tracking them now. If you wanted to join or..." Natasha said gently.

Steve gave her a sad shake of his head before he stood up and grabbed his coat, "I'm gonna take a walk."

... 

The man walked forward, standing at attention and saluting, "Sir. Alpha 4 just landed with the cargo."

"Our Winter Solider has come home," he said thoughtfully. He rubbed his chin and smiled, trembling in anticipation. "Hail HYDRA," he whispered.

"Hail HYDRA," the solider gulped, looking at the man being dragged through the hall unconscious. 

...

Steve opened the door, walking out of the building and onto the grass.

He walked for almost an hour, watching the sun disappear behind the mountain and most of the lights in the compound shut off for the night. Only the bright ones that illuminated the sidewalks and parking lots were still on. Steve couldn't really feel the cold, and he couldn't tell the difference between him being cold, or just the shaking in general.

The flashbacks from when Bucky had dropped from the train so many years ago and him being dragged through the doors fused together and Steve walked faster until he was sprinting, sprinting to clear his mind, sprinting to run faster than he had, to prove that he could have saved Bucky just to beat himself up more.

When he finally did 4 full loops of the entire compound he came to a stop, breathing hard, resting his hands on his knees. He was barely breaking a sweat but for the first time in forever. All the running had made him tired.

Not physically, but mentally.

He walked slowly back to the main entrance when his phone rang again. He looked at the number and when he didn't recognize it he frowned and answered it cautiously.

"Hello?"

_"Captain America. Steve Rogers. The first Avenger. You go by many names."_

The voice was rough, low, conniving and hoarse. The reception was bad wherever it originated from. 

"Who is this?" Steve demanded, looking around him to see if the caller was anywhere near him.

_"Someone who has the upper hand. We took something of yours. Someone...close to you."_

Steve froze. Bucky. Immediately he was high alert and he snarled into the phone, "I don't know who you are or what you want, but let me tell you how this is going to go-"

_"You've got it completely backwards Captain. I tell you how this is going to go because there is only one way you will ever see your friend again. Now are you listening?"_

Steve tensed, squeezing his eyes shut and speaking through gritted teeth, "You have 1 minute."

_"Have you ever heard the expression eye for an eye?"_

Steve already hated this but he forced himself to answer, "Yes."

_"We're going to have an old fashioned trade. You give us who we want, we will return the Winter Solider."_

Steve closed his eyes and lowered his head. He spoke softly, "Who?"

_"You call him Spiderman. We call him a successful experiment. You have 1 day to make your decision. Then call this number back. If you don't call us back or you say no, you will never see your friend again. And I can assure you that Captain Rogers. I do not play games. I make the rules."_

Steve slammed his finger on the end call button, shoving the phone in his pocket. His breath clouded in front of him rapidly in the cold air. His mind spun, his heartbeat speeding up. The cold air made him numb or maybe it just added to how he was feeling. He couldn't feel his fingers. He shook his head, running his hand harshly through his hair. Then he pressed a trembling hand to his face.

Was it bad he was even considering this?

No...worse. Was it bad he was already thinking of how to do it?

It was Bucky... and he didn't really know Spiderman. It would be better that way- no! What was he thinking? He can't- but it's Bucky. It's his best friend. It's his fault he was taken in the first place. He would make the trade quietly- No. It was an innocent person, practically a kid! The guy was only 20 years old for gosh- 

Steve sank to his knees with an exhausted and overwhelmed cry, his head spinning. His ears were ringing and he lowered his chin to his chest his thoughts deafening him.

But it's Bucky...

"Oh God..." he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :) More Irondad up nexttttt  
> Please leave your thoughts below- comments kudos appreciated.  
> Stay tuned for chapter 2!!


	2. (I'm not the) Bad Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOW 2 chapters in 2 days?! I have NO LIFE! :)  
> Kidding (kinda). I was so hyped after writing the first one that I cranked this one out. Next one will take a while though I can promise u that :( so enjoy this one!
> 
> We get some more Iron dad and find out that... wait...Peter's the one who convinces Steve to take the deal???? Man, I love written irony that's rly rly messed up. 
> 
> Anyway this was a really fun chapter to write and Idk if you can tell but I'm getting back into my Marvel groove which is totally awesome.  
> Enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for the next one! Also please read these notes because there will be a time where I'm gonna have to put this on hold for a week (AHH) and I don't want to be killed, thanks :)

Peter woke up, blinking. He stared at the ceiling for a little bit before he flipped himself upside down on his top bunk and landed in a handstand, before he flipped over and walked to his desk, plopping in his chair. It was dark outside, moonlight creating shadows that would have scared him when he was little. Peter dug through his drawer and pulled out his new prototype web shooters. 

He squinted at the clock, his eyes adjusting to read the bright red blinking numbers, 3:15. Peter made a face and started to fiddle with the web shooter. He grabbed his new connector he had assembled from one of Tony's busted suits and clicked in place before he reassembled the wires around and screwed on the new plate.

Then he aimed it at his bed and pressed his fingers to his palm. The web shot out extremely accurate, hitting the exact spot he wanted. Unfortunately it shot with so much power the book on the top of his bed teetered and fell and Peter lunged, catching it in a dive and landing on his stomach on his bed before it could hit the ground; he didn't want to wake anyone up. 

He sat up and set the book aside before his stomach grumbled. Peter scribbled a note to himself, reminding to tighten the release cord before he slipped the web shooters off and opened his door quietly heading for the kitchen. His spider metabolism needed more food than normal people did; Peter was almost always either hungry or thirsty. He didn't thermoregulate very well either, so Tony always kept the compound slightly warm. 

Peter did a Risky Business slide into the kitchen and stopped. The light was on in the dining room, the coffee machine turned on, the pitcher on the counter steaming. Peter peaked into the dining room carefully, stepping over the one spot in the floor that would creak, his fists raised, his knees bent. 

Steve was sitting there, with his head in his hands, a seemingly untouched cup of coffee lying to his right. 

Peter knocked on the wall so he didn't startle him and he walked in slowly, "Steve?"

"You look ready to fight," Steve noticed.

"I thought you were an intruder," Peter mumbled. 

Steve raised an eyebrow, "One, who would be smart enough to break in here? And two, kid you better come in with a bat or something. Don't try and just throw a punch, that will do jack squat."

Peter chuckled, "Well, you'd be surprised." Then Peter winced, "You look like crap."

"You don't look to bad yourself," Steve managed a smile, making Peter grin sheepishly.

"Sorry." He took a seat across from Steve who formally greeted him.

"I thought you went home when we got the call?"

Peter hadn't; he had gone on the mission and May texted him to just stay at Tony's; they got back at 1 in the morning. "No, May had to work late and I forgot my key so Happy will just...drive me tomorrow."

Steve nodded, clearly out of it.

"How are you holding up?" Peter asked softly.

Steve raised an eyebrow, "Who told you?"

Peter's mind whirled and he blurted out, "Tony. I saw him when he came back from the mission and he...he told me what happened," he lied. "I'm so sorry Steve." 

Steve nodded again, before he reached out to grab his coffee mug. Peter watched as he picked it up with trembling hands, took a sip, and then set it back down. 

"Did I- did I wake you?" Steve asked, rubbing his forehead. 

"No," Peter assured, "I didn't get much dinner last night- studying. So I was hungry." Peter was proud of himself for fabricating all these realistic excuses. 

Steve gave him a small smile, sliding his mug back and forth between his hands. Peter watched his expression carefully. Listened to his heartbeat. There was something else other than sadness that Cap was feeling. Confliction. Anger. Confusion.

"Steve are you ok?" Peter offered.

Steve looked up and shook his head, "No kid. Not...not really."

Peter waited patiently. Usually, he wasn't a fan of Cap. Not after he had left Tony to die on that iceland. But after working with him for a while after the team got back together, and seeing Tony forgive him?...Peter had softened, slightly. He was still good at holding grudges so of course it would be a while before he forgave Cap. But the real blow was seeing him this broken. 

"I- I may have a way to save Bucky. I can't tell you Peter I hope you understand," Cap said guiltily. 

Peter nodded. He wasn't an Avenger to Cap. Just an intern, a friend of Tony's. He understood that Cap couldn't trust him with Avengers level information. He nodded eagerly, "yeah, of course."

"Thing is, someone else could get hurt. But I know I could get Bucky back," Steve said, staring at the table. He winced, "I just don't know if I can do it. Put someone else's life on the line because of Bucky."

Peter gave him a small smile. "You know, when I first met Tony, he was like a mentor to me. Now he's...now he's the closest thing I have to a father. He means more to me than anyone. And if something happened to him," Peter shook his head, continuing before tears came to his eyes, "I probably wouldn't care who got hurt as long as I got him back."

Steve cracked a smile, lowering his head.

Peter shifted in his seat, "Other people may not always understand how it feels to lose someone until it happens to them but..." Peter trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "People who care about one another do crazy, dangerous, and sometimes bad things for the people they love. But that doesn't make them the bad guy Steve."

Steve looked up at Peter and spoke softly, "Thank you Peter."

Peter gave him a small smile, "Yeah. No problem. We'll get him back ok? I- I can help if I can, maybe?" 

"You've done enough kid. You have a new job now, besides making uplifting quotes for a living- did you practice that speech?"

"4 hours," Peter nodded.

Steve smirked, "I see Tony's sarcastic quips have worn off on you too."

Peter grinned and Steve nodded, "Now your job is to stay safe and try not to blow up anything. You're almost as crazy as Tony."

"I take that as a compliment," Peter said, getting up from the table. "Night Steve."

"Night kid," Steve said.

Peter walked out and grabbed a big bag of Doritos, taking one last look back at Captain America before he headed back to his room. He opened the door and then closed it, turning the light on and heading back to his desk. He opened his drawer again and pushed past the web shooter, instead grabbing a photo. He gently pulled it out and blew off the dust. It was him and Tony, both in their suits, which was why Peter had it in his desk, just in case someone saw it. 

He pinned it up in the center of his pin board and sat back in his chair.

"No one's coming in my room," he assured himself, opening the bag of Doritos. That picture would stay up. He had another picture of him and Tony, sitting on the couch together watching Star Wars and eating popcorn. Peter remembered that night. They had stayed awake till 4 in the morning and he had fallen asleep on Tony's shoulder, the billionaire's arm protectively around him. Peter smiled and looked at it fondly, crunching on a chip. But that was Tony Stark and Peter Parker- only half of their lives.

The other one was special. Iron Man and Spiderman. Tony's arm around his shoulder, a huge grin on his face, his other palm out and glowing. Peter was doing his signature Spiderman hand motion, his fingers brushing his palm so he wouldn't shoot May, who had taken that picture. Peter smiled proudly and took a deep breath, popping another chip into his mouth. What he had told Steve was true. He would do anything for Tony and if anything happened to him? Peter would do whatever it took to get him back and make whoever hurt him pay. 

The next morning Peter woke up with his head against his desk and he yawned, stretching, before he walked down to the kitchen. The dining room was deserted and Peter turned around as Tony came walking in. 

"Hey Pete-" Tony yawned.

Peter surged forward and hugged him. Tony froze, a little confused at the surprise embrace before he returned the hug, holding Peter tightly. Peter wrapped his arms around him tighter and Tony chuckled slightly, resting his chin on Peter's head and cupping the back of his head with his hand, his fingers ruffling Peter's hair. Peter then pulled away and Tony held onto his shoulder, keeping him at arms length and eyeing him warily, still with a proud spark in his eye and a trace of a happy smirk on his face.

"You ok kid?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Peter nodded.

"What was that for?" Tony said, clearly happy for the hug.

"A thank you," Peter said simply, looking up at his idol, "for everything." 

"I'd do anything for you kid," Tony promised, ruffling his hair. "Did you have some sort of epiphany over night?" Tony laughed.

"People...hug people all the time," Peter defended himself.

"Uh huh," Tony chuckled.

Sam walked in, heading straight for the coffee and Tony turned, "Sam! Do I get a hug for always saving your butt?"

"Screw you," Sam said, still not fully awake, but awake enough to kid around. 

Tony turned to Peter who stammered to think of another excuse for the hug. Then he winked, "I guess it's just our thing."

"Ok," Peter said happily before he raised an eyebrow and brought up a good point, "I mean you hugged me in the car after we went to Germany."

"I was...opening the door," Tony said quickly.

"Uh huh," Peter mocked. 

Tony messed up his hair again before he waved him off, "Skidaddle young buck. You're gonna be late to school."

Peter's eyes shot wide, "School! Crap!" He sprinted down the hallway back to his room.

"Happy's out today by the way kid," Tony called after him. 

Peter skidded to a stop and turned around with wide eyes. He cursed and Tony raised his eyebrows. 

"Woah...just cause I say it- relax kid, I'll drive you," Tony said, pouring some coffee into a mug and sipping it. 

"You will?" Peter asked, walking backwards to his room. 

"Yes, now turn around before you trip and fall on your face. I'll laugh, I won't help you up."

Tony sat in his lab, trying to track down HYDRA's location. He rubbed his eyes and yawned; he hadn't gotten much sleep last night- or any night for that matter. He typed a few things into his computer and then pushed off of his desk, rolling in his chair to the other side of the room and reconfiguring the satellite control panel he had rigged up.

"FRIDAY? I upped the voltage on this baby. It should scan twice the radius now so let's give that a shot. Hit it," Tony said, clicking his pen and leaning back in his chair as the little green button beeped and the bar started to go across the screen he had opened up. 

Steve knocked on the door and stuck his head in, "Anything?" Natasha was next to him.

Tony waved them both in, eyes on the screen and he shook his head, "Nothing yet. But FRIDAY will pick him up soon enough."

"So you're scanning for people now?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, "you can do that?"

Tony laughed, "No."

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief.

"I mean theoretically I could do-" he trailed off, "just kidding, that's not in my power- anyway..." Tony continued, spinning his chair, "a certain metal is very rare in the US. It happens to send off a very high pulse when I hit it with a certain magnetic wave that I'm sending out. I'm searching for rebounds."

Steve looked at his shield that Tony was repairing on another lab table. "Vibranium."

"Aside from your dinner plate here, and lucky for us- Bucky's arm, there really aren't any other traces on this side of the world. So, I brought a magnet, and I'm gonna light this baby up. We should find him in a couple days, tops," he said proudly. 

Natasha rubbed his arm with a smile.

Steve shook his head, "Days isn't good enough Tony."

"I'm sorry, I don't get a thank you?" Tony scoffed.

"They could be killing him," Steve said seriously, "They're probably already brainwashing him again. We need to work faster."

"We?" Tony said, standing up.

"Tony," Nat warned.

Tony shook his head, "No Nat. Last time I checked Rogers, you can't configure a pin point radioactive wave imaging satellite underneath the US governments radar and redesign it to expand it's scanning diameter. Unless you became a genius within the past 2 hours?" he said, raising his eyebrows at Cap with fury in his eyes. 

"I've been working with Ross," Cap said angrily. 

"Oh yippiekaya do you want a medal?" Tony hissed. "I'm doing the best I can right now Rogers."

Cap grit his teeth, "Bucky could be dead, we should be out there right now, looking for him-"

"Yeah, because they're just out in the open Cap, sure. No they've got underground, they've gone somewhere and until I can find them and we can put something together-"

"It's HYDRA Tony!" Steve yelled, as if he didn't understand the severity of the situation.

"GIVE ME A BREAK," Tony yelled back.

Silence.

Nat flinched and took a step back. Tony squared up against Steve who hadn't moved a muscle.

He spoke through gritted teeth, calmly with anger, "I am trying, my best, and if that's not good enough, I'm sorry. But I didn't get sleep last night. I've been risking my special clearance for Barnes. I am doing everything in my power to get him back, and you? Oh, you've talked to Ross. We don't have many options here Steve. If you don't like mine, you can find him on your own." He pushed past both of them and walked toward the door.

"Tony-" Steve called after him as he walked out of the room. Nat held Cap back, shaking her head. 

"FRIDAY, keep me updated and if he touches anything, spray him with the fire extinguisher," Tony said angrily, rubbing his head as he stormed down the hallway. 

Natasha found Tony in the other lab, fiddling with a new prototype armor. 

"Tony-"

"Hand me that screwdriver," Tony said without looking. Natasha sighed and grabbed it and handed it to him. 

"Thank you."

"He's just stressed," she offered.

"You taking his side now?" Tony said angrily, cracking the screw in as hard as he could. 

Nat crossed her arms, shaking her head. "Sides? There are no sides. We're a team. We made a promise. No more sides, ever again."

"Right," Tony said sarcastically. 

"Bucky meant a lot to him Tony. It's like you losing Peter," she said, sitting down and picking at a fray in her black leggings.

Tony stopped what he was doing and he looked at her from behind the Iron Man suit, "You know, it seems like you're taking sides-"

"I'm not," Nat protested.

"Well it seems like you are. You always were a double agent," Tony wiggled his eyebrows mockingly, giving her an angry smirk.

"Tony," she said urgently. 

He slammed the screw driver down, before he picked it back up and set it down gently, "Yep! That's me."

Nat sighed, "I know you're doing everything you can-"

"I am," he agreed.

"And I know you are," she assured him, "but Steve's not doing to well right now and it's not like you can blame him. Just like you can't get mad a kid who knocks over a glass of milk."

"You just called Cap a 7 year old," Tony called her out, pointing at Natasha, "FRIDAY save audio recording."

_"Yes boss."_

Nat frowned, "Tony. Do you really think you'd be in better shape if someone you cared about was taken?"

"I'll fix your little analogy Romanoff," Tony said angrily, "He's crying over spilt milk. That doesn't get you anywhere. You have to clean it up, fix it, and make sure it doesn't happen again," Tony said through his teeth. Then he kicked the side of the table and scoffed. "He insulted science. He insulted me, FRIDAY and all the robots-"

"You're being dramatic," Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I'm being dramatic? Robots have feelings Nat, that's offensive. If you want to throw a smoothie at her DUM-E I understand," Tony said, raising his hands. The 3 robots looked at him and turned to Nat. 

"Is everything a joke to you?" Nat asked.

"Funny things are," Tony shot back, "and I- I find it hilarious that I get yelled at, for doing my job. I don't get a thank you card. I got thousands of thank you cards for carrying that nuke up that worm hole. Saved New York? Maybe the world? Does that ring any bells?"

"We're a team. We don't give each other thank you cards each time we do something right," Nat sighed. 

"Oh so we yell at each other instead? Degrade each other's efforts?" Tony shouted, laughing loudly with no humor. He shook his head and pointed to the phone, "I could be following orders right now Nat. I was told to drop this and let Ross find Barnes. But am I? No. Because Steve, and yes we've had history, but he's my friend. And I did exactly as you said. I pictured it was Peter. So I did exactly what I would do if he was taken. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I worked my butt of to find another way to save Barnes, and I found a way. But no. I'm the bad guy."

"You're the only one making progress Tony. And Steve won't say thank you, but he means it. And I mean it. And the team means it. They just don't always say it the way you want them to," Nat said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You're not the bad guy."

Tony nodded slowly and then smiled, but there was no humor behind it. "Tell that to Rogers."

Steve opened the door to the compound and walked outside to let off steam. He walked to the grass and stood there, the sun glinting in the sky.

He checked his watch and cursed; he had to call before tonight. That was the deal. 

Steve ran a hand through his hair. Unless he called earlier...

_We should find him in a couple days, tops._

He had hours. Minutes. Seconds. Not days. Days weren't enough. Bucky could be dead in days. 

_We don't have many options here Steve. If you don't like mine, you can find him on your own._

Find him on his own. This was Bucky... and Steve didn't have any options. They would kill him if he didn't call back and agree to the plan. They would kill his best friend. And it would be his fault- turning down an opportunity to save him.

_Other people may not always understand how it feels to lose someone until it happens to them but..._

Peter's eyes had been so innocent, so sincere, so reassuring when he had told him that. That boy had lost his parents: another thing he and Tony shared, another thread in the bond that had made them like father and son. That kid had been hurt enough already, and he wasn't even out of high school yet. Steve never wanted Peter, who was more pure than he or any of the Avengers ever would be, to ever have to feel how he felt right now: conflicted and in pain, faced with an ultimatum that hurt his soul. 

_People who care about one another do crazy, dangerous, and sometimes bad things for the people they love. But that doesn't make them the bad guy Steve._

He wasn't the bad guy. He was doing this for Bucky. He had to do this. As long as his best friend, his brother was safe, he could face the repercussions. He could live with himself if Bucky was still breathing. Peter was right. 

He pulled out his phone and for once in the past couple hours, his hands were steady. He dialed back the number. 

...

The man closed the phone with a smile, "As I suspected, Captain Rogers will be working with us."

He stared into the cell where the Winter Solider lay with his knees to his chest in the corner, shivering, his hands and feet shackled together.

Another man stood by his side. "He would betray a fellow Avenger?" his associate marveled.

"He would kill himself for this one," the man scoffed. "He'd do anything."

"So he is giving us the Spider?" 

"Yes," the man nodded thoughtfully. "i am letting him wait for a day. I have told him what to do and how to do it. Everything is going according to plan. My plan. He'll bring him to me."

"Where we exchange him for the Winter Solider?" the other man nodded.

The man fingered his beard before he smiled again, "No."

The man turned and knit his eyebrows, almost afraid to question his commander's words. "Sir?"

"I am many things Lieutenant," the man sighed. "A man of my word is not one of them," he said simply, staring at Barnes who looked back at him underneath his bangs that were drenched in sweat. "We will take the Spider and keep the solider, and then the Avengers will tear themselves apart from the inside."

"Many have tried that and failed sir," the lieutenant gulped.

"Yes." The man nodded, and then he turned to look the lieutenant in the eyes and smiled. "I have not yet tried it," he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Sir, they- they will come for us. They will find us and kill us all." Even he was scared of what the Avengers could do, what they had done.

"And who will they be focused on killing when they come for us, when they are too busy fighting their friends?" he said softly, giving the other man a sideways glance

"You wish to inject the spider as well?" the other man questioned. At no response he stammered, "you must break him first."

"Everyone is breakable," the man snapped, "Even the unbreakable ones. You have the serum ready?"

"It has not been tested yet sir," he warned. 

"Well good thing we have a lab rat coming in then, yes?" he patted the frozen lieutenant on the shoulder and he flinched. He walked past him, away from the cell and down the hallway, stopping to scan his hand to open the locked door. He called over his shoulder, "Stick to the plan. And await a call from Captain Rogers. He is playing right into our hands."

...

Steve dialed a different phone number this time and held it to his ear steadily. After he had made that first phone call. 

_"Cap?"_

"Hey, yeah, listen Spiderman...I know it's a big favor, but I was wondering if you could help me with something?" Cap felt like he was stabbing himself in the back with every word. 

_"Yeah, what is it? I'd be happy to help."_

"I got a lead on Bucky. I think," Steve lied, clenching his fists so hard he almost drew blood. 

_"Oh that's great!"_ He exclaimed, " _I can tell Mr. Stark-"_

"No!" Steve said a little too quickly, "No, don't tell Stark, he's...he hasn't been sleeping. He's also mad at me, I blew up at him today, he deserves to rest and I still need him tracking unless I'm wrong about this."

 _"I understand. Well, what can I do?"_ Spiderman offered.

"There's an abandoned warehouse. I found one of the trucks that we were blowing up at the compound the other day. It was there. Even had some charred parts from all the fire."

_"You're thinking some of them are camped out there?"_

"Yeah, so maybe I could get a few of them to talk. Lead me to the base?" Steve said, squeezing his eyes shut. His voice was convincing, but if anyone had seen his pain wracked scrunched up face, they would have thought differently.

_"That could work. Is the truck there permanently?"_

"It hasn't moved since we got back. I saw someone leave at 5 am- I took a walk after we had our talk last night, that's when I found it. I checked security cameras on the store across the street, old favor from a friend. Just got a call that the car came back at 8."

 _"15 hour store run?"_ Spiderman joked. 

Steve almost broke. He laughed half heatedly, "Yeah. No way."

_"So what, 5 am tomorrow? I can do that-"_

"No. 8 pm. Better to work in the dark. We can go undetected." Or better so that no one sees what happens, Cap thought to himself. His stomach churned.

_"Ok. Tomorrow at 8 pm. Do you have an address?"_

Steve relayed the same address he had been given less than 10 minutes ago and squeezed his eyes shut again, forcing himself to steady his voice, "Thank you. And please, don't- don't tell anyone about this. I trust you. I don't want the team involved in this if it turns out to be nothing. I don't know, maybe I'm just desperate."

_"I understand, no it's ok. I get it. I'll see you then."_

"Thank you," Cap said again, choking back a lump in his throat. 

_"Hey, don't mention it. Take care Cap."_

Then he hung up, put his head in his hands, and let tears slip quietly down his cheeks. What had he done?

Peter dialed Ned after hanging up. 

"Hey dude, you can't come over tomorrow night," Peter said, spinning his chair. "No Ned I don't have a date. NO! MJ? Really? Out of all the girls- you know- no, you know what? Whatever. I am not! I do not. Shut up."

Peter grinned, "Oh nothing too big, just Captain American needs my help. I'm an Avenger man, come on, it's my job."

He webbed a shirt and threw it in his hamper, squishing the phone between his shoulder and cheek, "Don't tell anyone though, ok?"

Then he straightened, almost dropping all of the laundry he had in his arms before he breathed a sigh of relief and groaned loudly into the phone, "Your cat doesn't count Ned, don't scare me like that. I'm trusting you! Ok. Yeah, yeah, yeah nothing big, just a hunch he has and Tony's got enough on his plate."

At the mention of Bucky, Peter frowned, "You're not supposed to know about that. I told you? When? Oh...I did. Ok, yeah but no one knows, not even the press. Sure, you're special," he laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I'll see you at school Ned. Bye." Peter hung up the phone. 

Peter put his book away and then took out the trash before May could yell at him. When he slid back in his room he started on his Spanish homework since now he couldn't do it tomorrow night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh crap...next one's gonna be rough...  
> stay tuned! Leave your thoughts below and kudos are always appreciated <3


	3. Nothing Hurts More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GOES DOWN  
> Let's get this going. Really intense chapter. Just a huge incredible intense ( I already said that ) masterpiece I won't lie.  
> I love the complexity and severity of this chapter if that makes sense??  
> (Also hopefully I can get through Chapter 4 before i leave???)  
> Ok say no moreeee take a deep breath and start reading I hope you like it <3

**9:59 pm**

"This is HYDRA," the man said, picking up and inspecting a knife ever so carefully. 

"Did you just change around a Troy quote?" the boy said weakly. 

The man laughed, turning around to face the boy who was cuffed to the chair with special metal bindings, a gag limp around his neck, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He had a black eye and a cut on his cheek but both were fading fast, which would make this so much more enjoyable for the man approaching him. There was a massive cut on the meat of his right shoulder from where they had dug out his tracker.

He had been stripped of his spider suit and was instead in the clothes they had found in the backpack he left on the other side of the road. His suit was in the other room, along with his web shooter mechanics that were being inspected. The boy was instead in a lose shirt that was sticking to him because of the blood, turning the fabric red, and pale ripped jeans, also splotched in blood.

The man flipped the knife in his hand skillfully without even looking and gave the boy a pitiful smirk, "A sense of humor. That won't last."

"Try me." Defiance...another thing that wouldn't last. He could see it in his eyes. It didn't phase him. He had seen that same spark before. This boy had a lot of it, more than others, but every single spark had gone out all the same. This would be no different.

"Oh I'll do worse than that. I can hurt you until you have another definition of pain. I can make you unable to determine fact from fiction. I can make you kill your friends and your family. You will be begging me to end your life and I won't let you die."

"So many empty threats," the boy wiggled his eyebrows, gulping slightly to mask his nervousness.

The man walked forward, lifting the boy's chin with the knife, raising those defiant eyes, the spark brighter than ever. It would be a joy to watch it slowly go out. "You should be scared. Very scared. I will ruin you. I will break you."

"You can try," the boy snarled. 

The man nodded, smiling at him and he flicked the knife up, cutting his chin. The boy flinched and breathed hard through his nose, flicking sweaty hair out of his face. The man, pleased with this result walked around behind the boy who tensed as he put his hands on his shoulders and leaned down to his ear.

"Everyone can be broken. Even the unbreakable ones," he whispered.

"Screw you," Peter whispered back. 

**7:47 pm**

Peter swung from building to building, like he did every night on his patrol, but this time was different. He hadn't gone home this time. As Peter swung, following his GPS, he took in his surroundings. Cap had said for him to meet him across the street from the back alleyway behind the warehouse. It was where the agents had supposedly left from and returned to. 

He dropped to the ground on the other side of the street and webbed up the cameras that he saw from 100 feet away just in case; it didn't seem like they were working.

"Hey Karen, what time is it?" Peter wondered.

 _"The time is 7:51 pm,"_ Karen reported.

"Early," Peter nodded. He crouched on the ground, scanning the building in front of him. 

"Is Cap here yet-" Peter asked when suddenly his spider senses tingled. Peter turned just as someone put a hand on his shoulder. 

Something told him not to knock the person out cold even though every sense he had wanted to flip, slam his foot into the intruder's head and pin him down. Lucky for Cap, he didn't and Steve grinned as Peter stood. 

"Spiderman," Steve greeted, holding out his hand.

"Cap," Peter said back, relaxing. He accepted the hand shake and returned the grip. 

"Thanks for coming," Steve said nervously, looking at the seemingly abandoned building. 

"Anytime. Let's go kick some butt ok? Find out where Bucky is," Peter assured him.

Cap gripped his shield tightly and nodded, "Let's go."

"Go left, I'll go right," Steve hissed. Peter crawled along the ceiling, taking the left hallway while Steve took the opposite one. 

He dropped to the ground and snuck around the corner, taking out security cameras. The lights were on which was weird, but Peter thought nothing of it. He walked for about a minute, finding nothing when suddenly his spider senses tingled and Peter dropped into a crouch, tensing and staring at the corner in front of him. A man came into view and Peter sprung forward and webbed him, slamming him into the wall.

"Who are you?" Peter demanded, "Are you HYDRA?"

"What? What's- no- I," the man was shaking in fear, dressed in a long coat and slacks. A fallen clipboard was laying on the floor.

"Spit it out," Peter said angrily.

"I'm the surveyor! People- people are buying this land, I'm seeing if it meets the new buyer's requirements-" he stammered.

"Is the new buyer HYDRA?" Peter threatened, keeping him pinned. 

The man's face contorted into confusion and he shook his head, "I don't even know what that is- please. It's meat processor." The man was shaking under Peter's grip. I'm just doing my job- please don't hurt me."

"Crap." Peter's face fell and he gulped. He knew the man was telling the truth; he had been reading his vitals. He let the man go and raised his hands, "I'm not going to hurt you. Look, there are some bad guys here. Really bad guys. I'm looking for them. You need to get out of here, now. Far away."

The man nodded, grabbing his clipboard and heading for an exit. 

"Have a nice day, sorry about that," Peter winced. The door shut. He tapped into the comms. 

"Cap? There may be more people here. You have to make sure they're HYDRA before you decide to hit them with a shield."

_"Got it, thanks kid. Have you found anything yet?"_

"Bunch of jack and a whole lot of squat. This place apparently was bought by a meat processing company," Peter said, peeking around the corner down the hallway and then starting forward. "The guy I just ran into was a surveyor. I'm having Karen scan for heat signatures now."

_"I'm out back. I see the truck but there's no guys. I heard voices before but the lot is clear. It looks like there are 2 guys asleep in the trucks but-"_

Peter tapped into Karen's heat scan and his heart went to his throat as he scrolled to the back alley. He saw Steve's form, and the 2 in the truck.

 _"They aren't sleeping,"_ Karen noted.

But behind Cap there were approaching bodies, surrounding him. "Oh God..." Peter put a hand to his ear as he started sprinting, "Cap! Steve! It's a trap! They're behind you! Get out of there now!"

 _"Kid- I-"_ he heard gunshots and he heard Steve yell in pain before more gunfire sounded and there were grunts and screams from punches.

Peter cursed and sprinted faster, flinging himself down the hallway, faster and faster, cutting corners. "Cap! Cap?" he screamed into an empty comm, "No no no no no."

Peter flung himself outside, skidding to a stop. Cap was in a headlock with 2 HYDRA agents holding him in place, big ones too, his shield on the floor beside him. The third had a gun to his head. Peter froze. 

"Kid go-" Steve choked.

Peter shot him a look when he said that. Of course he couldn't leave him. Peter didn't move, he stayed where he was, but put out his hands, "Hey, let him go."

"One more move and we shoot," the agent snarled.

Peter nodded, "Ok. Ok look I'm not going anywhere. It's ok. Just let him go. We can sort this out. No one has to get hurt." 

He heard the men behind them, but didn't realize they would be so strong. Peter turned around and saw 4 men attack him all at once and he flipped into action, kicking and punching, webbing every chance he could get. Someone grabbed his wrist and Peter turned, slightly startled; he had counted and taken down all 4 guys. But no, here was another, and Peter flipped him to the ground before he turned around. 

Steve was just standing there, the agent that had been holding him in a headlock was gone, and Peter looked down, recognizing him as the man Peter had just knocked out.

"Steve?" he asked, before he was clocked over the head. Peter cried out and tried to turn but then he was kicked in the back of the knee and two men wrestled him to the ground, practically crushing his back into the pavement, holding his legs down, but keeping his neck in a headlock, stretching his spine. 

"I'm gonna be taller," Peter rasped, before he kicked the guy holding his legs down and threw both of his arms back, catching the other man across the face. Steve has still not intervened. 

Peter shot a web and a man grabbed his wrists and twisted. Peter snarled and tried to duck a punch but now had minimum space to move since he was being held down. He received a punch to the jaw and one to the eye with iron knuckles and Peter growled, bringing his leg up and wrapping it around the other guy's neck, kicking his other heel up and flipping himself on top. Peter knocked the man out with one blow and rolled off him before he stood shakily and coughed violently, stumbling forward and looking behind him at the pile of groaning bodies. 

"Steve why didn't you-" he mumbled, turning back around. Peter tensed and didn't move fast enough. Cap's shield came straight at his face. The star hit him right in the forehead and Peter staggered, in too much in pain to make a sound. He whimpered slightly as Cap lowered his shield. Peter looked him in fear, swaying, before his knees buckled all together and he collapsed, his head spinning. He tried to get to his elbows and failed, a bump already forming on his forehead, blood trickling down his eyebrow. 

Peter groaned weakly, again trying to raise himself before hands were on him again, pinning him to the ground, this time locking his hands behind his back with metal cuffs and locking his feet as well. He felt a needle go into his arm and that made everything 10 times worse. Peter groaned in pain, not having the strength to fight them off. Instead he just lay there, weak, in pain, dazed, and confused. 

"Steve please-" Peter whispered. Cap locked eyes with him painfully and shook his head. Peter continued to plead, his head trembling even though his chin was only an inch off the ground, "please it's me Steve, don't let them- it's P-" 

Someone kicked him in the ribs and Peter couldn't breathe, let alone croak out his name to maybe change Steve's mind. He coughed, gasping, curling on his side, his cheek scratching against the rough cement. 

What had they done to Cap? Surely this wasn't-

"I did what you asked," Cap's voice sounded like it was underwater.

A set up? This had all been a set up? How could he- 

"Where's Bucky?" Steve snarled.

Peter's heart dropped. Oh God...

_I- I may have a way to save Bucky. I can't tell you Peter I hope you understand..._

A way to save Bucky. This was the way.

_Thing is, someone else could get hurt._

Peter had basically sealed his own coffin.

_That doesn't make you the bad guy Steve._

He groaned and tried to speak but found he couldn't yet. He coughed up blood within his mask and lay there as the sound of footsteps got closer.

"Captain Rogers, we spoke on the phone," the man said, his feet a few inches from Peter's face. Peter raised his head slightly, trembling from the effort, in just a slight attempt to look up. He was met with a rough boot to his face and his head went crashing into the pavement again. Peter coughed up blood again, squeezing his eyes shut and writhing in pain on the ground, unable to move much since his wrists were bound behind him and his legs were shackled together.

He blinked slowly and weakly and saw Steve's gaze switch from pain from looking at him to anger as he glared at the man standing above Peter. 

"Give me Bucky," Steve said hefting his shield. "Where is he?" 

Peter almost felt sorry for him if he hadn't pieced together what Steve had done. Cap was so desperate, and blinded by that same desperation he had never seen the double cross coming. HYDRA was never going to hand over Bucky. They had played him. Even Peter could have called that. 

"He's not here Captain Rogers. You really think I would keep my word? You of all people should know how HYDRA operates. We don't keep promises," the man taunted.

Steve let out a yell, ready to throw his shield but then Peter felt himself being yanked up by his wrists and he was forced to his feet, struggling to stand as he acted as a human shield for the man he had yet to see. He let out a choked cry of pain.

Steve lowered his shield helplessly and Peter gulped down blood, shaking in the man's grasp. At least Steve wouldn't hurt him more than he already did.

The two trucks opened up and even more agents came out of them, all their guns pointed at Cap, forming a tight half circle with the man holding a staggering Peter up in it's center.

"You tricked me," Cap said brokenly. 

"Yes well, hail HYDRA," the man said, letting Peter drop to the ground. Peter hit the pavement hard, groaning and trying to breath. 2 men grabbed his arms, punching him across the face as he tried to fight back. Peter went limp and he was dragged backward towards the truck.

"Don't let them- Steve..." he mumbled. He was thrown into the truck and Peter hit the bottom of it, coughing up more blood. The man who had spoken to Steve was by his side and he knelt down in front of Peter who was curled on the floor. 

"You won't need this where we're going," he said simply, reaching behind Peter's head and gripping the edge of the mask's fabric with cold fingers.

"No," Peter moaned quietly. 

The man yanked the mask off and Peter let out a sob. 

"A little on the young side Spiderman," he observed, getting a grip of Peter's hair and raising him up to inspect him. 

Peter snarled and was still shaking uncontrollably, trying to stay awake and fight the serum that was pulsing through his veins. "Screw you," he made out, his voice trembling.

The man grinned and let him go before he opened the window and dropped Peter's mask out. Peter let out a whimper, as if part of himself was gone. He snarled and groaned, getting to his hands and knees with a surge of adrenaline. He yelled and surged forward only to be tackled and shoved against the window, more shackles clamped around his legs and arms. 

Peter couldn't fight it. So he didn't. He just stared out the window. Stared at the man on his knees in the center of the alley, holding Peter's mask in his hands. Once a friend, once an ally, once a teammate. Now a traitor.

Steve had betrayed him. Steve had turned him in...

"Sir there's a tracker in him," one of the guards said, stopping his scanner over Peter's arm. 

Peter was trembling already from the serum, not from fear but when the man approached him with the knife that was a different story. Peter jerked, thrashing to get away.

"No," he croaked, pleading with the man who ripped his suit with the knife.

His breathing sped up and 4 men held him down, giving him another dose of that serum to keep him somewhat sedated. But that didn't help with the pain when the knife was dug into his arm. Peter screamed through a hand that covered his mouth and he jerked what little he could as the knife dug around for the piece of tracking equipment. 

Peter had taken a lot of punches over the years, and he knew he would be taking a lot more very soon.

But nothing...nothing hurt more than being stabbed in the back. 

Tony was walking to the lab when May called him. 

_"Sir it's Peter's Aunt,"_ FRIDAY announced.

"Put her through."

_"Tony?"_

"May, how are you?" Tony asked, grabbing a banana from the kitchen on his way since he had sort of skipped all of his meals. 

_"Worried."_ She sounded worried.

Tony frowned, "Why's that?"

 _"Is Peter with you?"_ she asked.

Tony hadn't broken his frown, "No, he doesn't come over on Mondays."

_"He's not home yet. He usually finishes his night runs around 8:30. He canceled on his friend Ned tonight, just said he had some stuff to do. I tried to get a hold of him an the's not answering. Maybe I'm over reacting maybe-"_

"No May, you're not," Tony assured. "I'll look into it. I'll find him."

May breathed a sigh of relief, _"Please call me when you do. Thank you Tony."_

"My pleasure," Tony said, walking into the lab.

_"And thank you for everything that you've done for Peter. The suit, the internship, everything. He really looks up to you, you know."_

Tony smiled, "Oh he does, does he?"

 _"And you know it,"_ she laughed.

"Yeah, yeah I do," Tony said, his chest filling with pride, "I'll call if I find anything."

He and May said goodbye and Tony had to grin again. Then he slid into his chair and started typing on the computer. 

"FRIDAY? Track Peter for me," he said, leaning back.

 _"Tracking,"_ FRIDAY said, but her voice indicated it was anything but good news. _"Found. Tracker is located in an alleyway next to an abandoned warehouse. 172nd street. The tracker isn't moving. And I'm seeing a muted distress call from Karen. Peter's vitals are no longer available to me."_

"What?" Tony stood up. "Kid what are you doing?"

 _"I can't make contact with his A.I."_ FRIDAY said nervously. 

Tony called a suit immediately and turned off the computer, "Keep trying to reach her. Get me a path to the alley, now."

 _"Yes boss,"_ FRIDAY said. 

A suit shot down the hallway and wrapped around Tony.

Natasha ran in, "What's going on?"

"Spiderman needs help," Tony said hurriedly. He didn't have time to chat. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The helmet closed and he burst out of the emergency exit and into the sky, the door closing behind him. 

Natasha looked inside the lab and walked over to the screen in the center of the room. 

**Tracking...**

**Peter B. Parker**

**Tracking....**

Natasha's eyes widened. 

_"Sir you need to calm down,"_ FRIDAY warned. 

"Don't tell me to calm down," Tony said through gritted teeth as he willed the suit even faster.

_"You're may experience a panic attack if you don't-"_

"Darn right!" Tony yelled. "My kid isn't responding. HYDRA's on us. What do you think that means?"

FRIDAY didn't answer. Tony couldn't breathe but he still managed to swear, "I'll kill them. If they so much as touch him I'll kill him." Tony cursed again, diving down and landing in front of the warehouse. 

"FRIDAY give me something," Tony demanded, sprinting forward into the alley. 

_"His tracker says he's 6 steps to your left."_

Tony looked around in dismay at the empty street. "There's no one here. No one FRIDAY. He's not here."

Tony searched the entire alley before he finally was back where he started and he spun one more time, pleading, "No, no, no, no- PETER!"

Tony was about to scream the kid's name again when he looked down and something caught his eye. He fell to his knees and willed the suit to pull away. Tony picked up a small tracker with trembling fingers, blood smearing on his hands. 

"They dug it out of him," he whispered, looking around at the empty street. "Oh God...Peter..."

_The knife dug into his arm. Tears pricked at Peter's eyes. He screamed against the hand covering his mouth, shouting curses Tony would not approve of._

_Peter tried to gasp for air and couldn't. He just tensed and jerked at the hands holding him down while the man carved into his arm. Blood trickled down his arm and Peter could only feel pain. Finally it was over and the hand was removed._

_Peter got one gasp of air in before a gag was shoved into his mouth. He choked and breathed through his bloody nose, writhing in pain underneath the men's grasp, squeezing his eyes shut as silent tears slid into his sweaty hair._

_"Beauty," the man said, holding up a small tracker, covered in Peter's blood. He then tossed that out the window as well._

_"Have the men pull away slowly. Make sure Captain Rogers doesn't follow. We have what we came for."_

_"I will ruin you. I will break you."_

_The knife slit his chin and Peter glared in defiance._

_"Everyone can be broken. Even the unbreakable ones."_

Peter woke up, breathing hard, and raised his head slightly. He grit his teeth in pain and scrunched his face up, trying to get a handle on the agony. He took a deep breath and steadied himself, looking around the room. He caught sight of the same man he had been with earlier in the corner. 

"Hello Peter," he said.

Peter tensed. He knew his name.

"Yes. I've had time to search you up. I know more about you than anyone, maybe even yourself," the man said, turning around and leaning on the table. Peter got a good look at him. He was in a suit, his military hat laying on the far table. On his shoulder was a HYDRA patch. The door next to him was double bolted from the outside.

"You don't know me," Peter said firmly.

The man smiled. Peter squirmed in his seat uncomfortably. He hated when villains didn't talk. Maybe this man did know him better than he thought, and that scared him. It was bad enough his mask was gone. 

"That's for another time," the man decided, before he frowned, "You passed out on me before the real fun could get started. Turns out we put a little too much serum in you. We'll make sure not to make that mistake again so you can be awake when we start."

"Oh thank you," Peter drawled, arching his back in the chair.

"I see most of your cuts have healed. Want to enlighten me on how that's possible? You either tell me or we'll find out with some blood samples. Makes my job easier," the man said sweetly.

"Well I aim to please. I'm a werewolf," Peter admitted.

"Again with the sense of humor. It's going to be fun for me to break you Peter Parker." Then he cocked his head, "Benjamin, your middle name. That's your uncle's name is it not?"

Peter didn't answer.

"You...let him die, didn't you Peter?" the man asked.

"Shut up," Peter seethed.

The man smiled.

Peter wouldn't make eye contact with him, he just stared straight ahead. 

"Captain Rogers sends his regards as well," the man said. Peter understood exactly what he was doing- testing out the spots that hurt Peter the most. Prodding, almost.

"I'm sure he does," Peter smiled fakely. He couldn't help but set his teeth and snarl a bit when he said it. Peter winced as he almost felt the shield hitting him in the head, Cap delivering the final blow. Not helping him as Peter was wrestled to the ground and kicked. Not doing anything as he was dragged into the truck. Peter blinked, shaking his head to clear the memories and looking back up at the man who had been watching him with a small smirk.

"You're angry," the man noticed.

"Oh no I'm thrilled," Peter snapped. 

"He turned you in," the man smiled, nodding, "you should be angry. He was your friend."

Peter sighed, "Are we just stating facts here? Because if all this is going to be is some therapy session where I talk about my feelings-"

The man cut him off, eyeing him warily with a narrowed gaze. He cross his arms, "Do you know why you're here?"

"You want a play date and don't have any friends," Peter responded.

"You're here because you have a gift Peter. You are incredible. Your powers are within you, you are compatible with them. You are an incredible human being."

"So you want to study me?" Peter finished, before he scoffed, "Sorry, I'm not a lab rat."

"I am here to make human kind stronger," he said, picking up a knife and walking over. Peter tensed as the man put the knife on his arm that was tied behind him. He slit a small cut and Peter flinched, glaring. "You heal."

"So what, you hurt me for fun?" Peter spits, jerking away from him. 

"Nothing is for fun Peter. Everything we do to you will have a purpose. I can promise you that," the man said sincerely.

"Oh well that assuring," Peter mumbled.

"You're going to help me save the world Peter," he said proudly, walking away, before he turned to look over his shoulder. "After we destroy it.

"I think I'll pass," Peter snarled.

"Everyone always does," he said quietly, running his finger over the knife. He looked up, "But Peter I've told you. Everyone can be broken. Even the unbreakable ones."

"If you're going to talk me to death I may break," Peter admitted.

"You have no idea," the man said, closing the door behind him. The bolt echoed throughout the room and Peter dropped the act. He took a deep breath and forced down a sob, allowing himself to tremble again. The lights turned off and Peter was left in the dark and in silence. 

Cap went back to the compound and snuck into his room. Everyone was asleep as Steve walked the halls.

He couldn't stop shaking, in complete shock of what he had just done. Steve sat on the edge of his bed in his room. His hands were shaking, holding the bloodied Spiderman mask in his fists. 

He set it on the desk and walked over to the sink. Steve forced himself to take a deep breath and splashed water on his face. Oh God...

What had he done? 

Steve felt anger boiling up inside him and he smashed his fist against the mirror. His knuckles came away bloody but Steve didn't care. Shards of glass landed in the sink and he gripped the sides of the counter, breathing hard, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

What had he done?

He heard his phone buzzing on the desk and he walked over and fumbled with it, finally pressing answer. He pressed it to his ear. 

Steve forced his voice not to tremble, "Hello?"

 _"Steve? Captain America?"_ It was a women. She sounded worried. 

"Yes, who is this?" He asked.

_"This is Peter's aunt? My name is May. Peter didn't come home tonight. Tony called me- I don't know what to do and you're the only number I have from the rest of the Avengers. Have you maybe seen him?"_

Steve froze. He swallowed, licking his lips in an attempt to respond, clearing his throat, "No. No I haven't, I'm sorry."

 _"Ok well call me please if you see him or anything,"_ she said worriedly.

"Yes, yes ma'am," he stuttered, and then she hung up. 

"Peter?" Steve set the phone down slowly, his mind whirling, before he shot up out of his seat.

"Peter..." He grabbed the mask and shoved it in his pocket. Then he opened his door and ran down the hallway to the nearest lab, shoving open the door and going to the nearest computer, plugging in his ear piece they used for missions. 

"FRIDAY tap into the group comms and play back a tape of Spiderman," he said hurriedly. 

_"Processing,"_ FRIDAY said.

Spiderman's voice rang out, " _Thank God we made this suit bullet proof because- hey buddy I think you lost this- I'm- handling it. Going great."_

Steve clicked into a voicemail he had gotten from Peter. _"Hey, Steve? Cap? Captain America? This is Peter, could you please open the front gate? I lost- I broke my key, don't tell Tony, and I need to-"_

Same voice. Same...person.

Oh _God_...

Steve almost dropped his phone.

 _"Steve, are you alright?"_ FRIDAY asked.

Steve stumbled into a table, his head spinning. 

_"Bye Mr. Stark," Peter said seriously, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and jogging out the door, turning and giving Tony a look. "Be safe."_

_"Always am," Tony smiled after him. Peter walked out._

_"Instant kill if you have to. Be safe." Tony demanded._

_The kid gave a thumbs up, "Always am."_

Cap didn't answer FRIDAY who asked if she should call one of the Avengers or a medical staff member. He staggered out of the lab and ran back to the rooms, passing his and going into Peter's. He turned on the light and looked around at the teenager's room. His eyes fell on the desk and Steve almost sank to his knees. He walked slowly over and opened the already half pulled out desk, picking up a web shooter.

He looked up with tears in his eyes and then reached for a picture with trembling fingers, tacked in the center of the pin board.

Tony clenched the tracker in his fist. Someone had hurt his kid. They were going to pay. He was going to get Peter back and then kill them, if it was the last thing he did.

"Ok, ok think. FRIDAY...are there any cameras?"

 _"They've all been disabled. There's...webbing in front of them?"_ Even FRIDAY sounded confused. 

"Why would he..." Tony questioned. "Why would Peter web the cameras? That means he was here for a reason..."

 _"Doing his patrol maybe?"_ FRIDAY suggested.

"No, he doesn't come out this far," Tony said, pacing in the street. "If he did, I'll kill him." Tony bit his lip as horrible thought raced through his mind of what they could be doing to him. 

_"Sir you have an incoming call,"_ FRIDAY said, breaking his train of thought.

"Who?" Tony said through gritted teeth.

_"Unknown number."_

"Answer it," Tony said, getting back into his suit. When the call started Tony spoke first threatening, his hands clenched into fists, his voice shaking in anger, "Listen up. If you have my kid I'm giving you one hour to give him back to me. If you don't, I will track you down, i will find you, and if he is not in one piece I will rip you apart limb from limb. Do you understand me?"

There was silence for a second and then a young voice stuttered, _"Um...sir it's Peter's friend, Ned. But I- I believe you."_

Tony straightened and rubbed his forehead, "Oh. Sorry Ned."

_"It's- it's ok. Is Peter ok?"_

Tony hesitated. No, he wasn't going to lie. "No. No Ned, I- I don't think so."

 _"Peter..."_ Ned said miserably. _"Well May told me to call you. Peter called me before he went missing. He wouldn't tell me what he was doing exactly, he even told me not to tell anyone but I kind of have to tell you because you're Iron Man and I don't want to die and I want Peter to be ok-"_

"Ned," Tony sighed, "rambling."

_"Right."_

"Well what did he tell you?" Tony said, getting slightly agitated. 

_"He said he was going on a mission with Captain America."_

Natasha was sitting in the kitchen, rubbing her head. Peter? Spiderman? 

It was so obvious she didn't know why she hadn't realized it before. They were never in the same room. Whenever Peter left, Spiderman seemed to show up and vice versa. They're voices were identical, just a little muffled under the mask. But the biggest give away was Tony. Tony treated Spiderman like a son. There was only one kid that he treated like that and that was Peter Parker. 

A teenager? Under the mask? A teenager that had fought at the airport against the Avengers? A teenager that had fought with the Avengers for the past couple months, and gotten hurt right along with them. All while going to school and interning for Tony and keeping his cover under wraps. 

And now he was in trouble. Natasha had left the lab as soon as she read the screen. Now she was spinning a cup of coffee in her hands, pondering and thinking. She almost managed a laugh, remembering all the times Tony and Peter had exchanged glances, or slipped up and they hadn't even caught it. 

Natasha shook her head, smiling slightly and was about to take a sip of her coffee when she heard a huge crash. 

She jumped up, grabbing her gun and sprinting down the hallway. She hurried down the stairs and turned the corner into the living room. 

Steve was there, on his knees, holding 2 things in his hands. 

Tony- Tony had burst _through_ a wall, cold air coming in from the outdoors, the night sky shown in the massive hole. Rubble cluttered the living room.

Pepper ran in behind her and her face slackened, her hand going to her mouth. "Oh my- Tony! What-" 

Natasha held out her arm, stopping Pepper from going any closer. Some other Avengers had come running as well on the opposite side of the hallway. Clint was in the front and Natasha shot him a look and he nodded, mimicking her movement. Sam, Wanda and Vision stopped behind him. Bruce, Rhodey and Pepper were behind her, watching as Tony's helmet receded to his neck. 

"Steve?" Tony asked, breathing hard, "what did you do?"

Natasha looked at Cap who didn't move.

"What is that? Rogers what is that?" Tony choked, looking at what Cap had in his hands. "No...no..."

Steve looked up and he moved his hands away, revealing a bloody Spiderman mask.

Tony's face went from sadness and fear to horror and shock but then the scariest expression came over the billionaire's face. Natasha actually took a step back from the glare Tony had on, the man trembling and taking shaky breaths.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Tony yelled, his fists clenched. Natasha flinched. She had never heard that tone from him. Tears were streaming down the man's cheeks, and he was shaking in anger. "WHERE'S MY KID? WHERE'S PETER?"

Steve got to his feet slowly, "Tony I-"

Tony let out a heartbroken yell and shot forward, slamming Rogers into the wall, his hand around Cap's throat. No one moved. 

"What...did you...do?" Tony snarled in Steve's face.

"I'm sorry," Steve said. "They had Bucky..."

"You turned him in," Tony said in disbelief, his eyes pleading Cap to deny it. Natasha couldn't breathe. She let her arm drop but no one started forward. 

"You turned him in..." Tony said again, his voice breaking. He let Cap go and backed up, staggering, tears falling down his cheeks, "You called him to help you. Ned told me. And it was a set up. They were there waiting for him weren't they? And you did nothing. You let them take him. And for what?"

Steve tried to speak, but it seemed like it was too painful for him. He made out, "Bucky..."

"They told you they'd give back Bucky for him?" Tony yelled, "And you believed them?"

"Tony-" Steve said softly. 

"You turned him in!" Tony yelled, "he's a kid Rogers! He was your friend! Your teammate! MY KID! THAT'S MY KID! And you...you turned him over-" Tony choked on a sob. 

Silence. 

Tony looked up and curled his fists before he let out a yell and shot forward, tackling Cap through the wall. 

That's when Nat started forward and she sprinted through the broken wall, the other Avengers and Pepper at her heels.

Tony picked Cap up and punched him again before blasting him across the room. Steve slid to the floor, groaning and trying to get to his feet. Tony didn't let him. He kicked him in the side and Steve flew into the wall. Tony went in again, grabbing his shirt and yanking him to his feet. He punched him across the face, again and again. 

Steve went limp, his face bloodied and bruised, one eye swollen shut. "Tony-"

"SHUT UP!" Tony seethed, punching him again before he pushed him away and kicked him in the chest. 

Tony started for him, murder on his face, his eyes filled with tears. He raised his palm in blind fury, the light in the center heating up, but Natasha stepped in his way, pushing down his arm.

"Tony! TONY! That's enough! Stop!" she yelled, grabbing his shoulder. 

He fought her weakly, screaming over her shoulder, "You liar! You traitor! He was a kid and you turned him over- you didn't even hesitate. How could you? I'm going to kill you Rogers! I'll kill you- God-" Tony stumbled backward, choking on his own adrenaline.

He staggered, swaying, his suit creaking with his awkward steps, looking at Nat in just pure shock, horror, and anger that wasn't meant for her but the man behind him. She had never seen him like this. She had never seen that look, never heard that yell...

Then Pepper was there, crying as well, and she hugged Tony who had gotten out his suit, sinking to her knees with him. Sam and Bruce went over to check on Cap who was a bloody mess on the floor, but still breathing. Nat had no sympathy for him. 

"Oh God..." Tony choked, shaking on the ground. 

The other Avengers stood there in shock, some with their hands over their mouth. There was silence except for Tony's brokenhearted yelling and his choked sobs. 

"He let him...he turned him in...that traitor turned him in..." Tony stuttered, his voice cracking as he screamed at Cap who was being lifted to taken to the medical wing.

Tony grabbed the bloody Spiderman mask with trembling fingers and picked up the photograph Peter had kept in his drawer of them goofing around in their suits. He held them both to his chest, ignoring the red stains on the mask that were smearing on his suit.

"Peter..." he whispered. "Peter..."

"It's time for test one," the man decided, looking at the security camera.

Peter was sitting in his chair in the dark. The man flipped all the lights on and the boy blinked, squinting and lowering his head as his eyes adjusted.

"I want two guards at the door, keep it locked," he demanded. The 2 men nodded and walked down their hallway to the cell.

"Release his bindings," he said, watching the screen carefully.

Peter's cuffs released and the ankle clamps opened. The boy stood slowly and carefully just in case it was a trap. When he felt comfortable he reached up, ripping off the gag that was limp around his neck, and rubbing his wrists. Peter started to get out of the chair and faltered, grabbing the side of it for support, gritting his teeth in pain. Clearly embarrassed about his weakness he straightened quickly, one hand clasped over his ribs.

The man caught a glimpse of his right arm and found it clear. "The cut is already healed," the man marveled, "incredible."

Peter immediately found the camera in the corner and he squinted once before he waved mockingly, raising his eyebrows and spreading his hands. 

_"What's your play?"_ he mouthed.

"Spiders don't thermoregulate. Let's see if that applies." The man grinned. The tech behind him typed in two numbers and pushed a button. 

Peter looked over at the vent that was bringing in freezing air and he looked back at the camera. 

"Set the temperature to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. We'll start there," the man smiled, recording the time in his notebook. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was physically and mentally exhausting to write XD i want to take a nap  
> Don't worry. Steve doesn't get off that easily. Let me know what you thought of this one! Stay tuned <3 :)


	4. Negative 30 Degrees Fahrenheit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lottttt of Peterrrr in this one :( poor boyyyyy  
> Tony and Cap have to face each other twice in this chapter and we finally get to know what the man wants from Peter...and more importantly, how he plans to get it out of him. Enjoy and leave your thoughts and ofc pleaseeee stay tuned (but read note below for sad news)!  
> <3
> 
> Warning: this one gets a little messy :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is THE LAST CHAPTER BEFORE RADIO SILENCE FROM ME for *gasp* one whole week! I'm sorry :(  
> I'll be back by Monday so next chapter should be up either next Tuesday or Wednesday.  
> And don't fear...I have come up with a great way to incorporate my week gone that you all will absolutly HATE me for but it's fine. So count every day becauseeeee you'll see.  
> Anywayyyyy enjoy :)

**3 Hours Later**

Tony twirled the pencil between his fingers. In his other hand he gripped the photograph Steve had taken from Peter's room, his finger rubbing over the side where his kid was. He still remembered taking that picture.

_"Gosh I love this suit," Peter said happily, doing a flip in the new suit he and Tony and had fixed up. It had the same colors and design, but easier for Peter to move in, and with a bunch of tricks up it's sleeve._

_"Come here kid. Calm- calm down," Tony sighed, grabbing the kid's arm and standing next to him. He put his arm around Peter's jumpy shoulders._

_"Sorry." The kid grinned, slinging his arm around Tony's back and pointing his arm out with two fingers almost to his palm._

_"Don't web May," Tony joked._

_"Smile boys," May commanded, cracking a smile as she took a picture. Tony rolled his eyes and put his hand out too, palm outstretched. All it took was one look at his kid to smile._

Tony rubbed his head, breathing in a shaky sigh. He stared at Peter's grin, and his arm protectively around him. He hadn't protected him. He hadn't kept him safe. Pepper's hand was on his shoulder. 

There was silence around the table, Tony at it's head, trembling in anger still. He hadn't stopped since the alleyway. Then the door opened and Bruce walked in. Everyone straightened, waiting.

"He'll live," Bruce sighed, not looking or sounding thrilled. 

Tony snapped his pencil in half, letting the two parts fall to the table. Pepper picked them up and tossed them in the trash. 

Everyone nodded, taking deep breaths. Tony didn't look at Bruce, or anyone. Part of him wished Bruce had come in with different news, and the other part of himself hated him for thinking that. 

"So how do we find him? Both of them?" Nat asked, setting her arms down on the table.

"Peter has a tracker didn't he? Why don't we just-" Sam suggested.

"Had," Tony said, his eyes still on the table. 

"What?" Sam asked.

"He _had_ a tracker." Tony reached into his pocket and tossed a small chip on the table. "I found it in the alleyway." Tony's voice was shaking and he ran a hand over his face, clearing his throat as he finished his sentence in a harsh voice, "Covered in blood. They _dug_ it out of his arm," Tony trailed off. 

"Jeez," Clint said, leaning back in the chair. 

"HYDRA doesn't care that he's a kid. They don't care that he's innocent. But they care that he can heal faster, and that makes him a target for their stupid sick games. We need to find him. Now," Tony said, sitting up. 

"And we will. Come on guys think," Rhodey assured, "there's gotta be some way to track them down."

Bruce drummed his fingers on the table, "Cap must have communicated with them, with HYDRA. If he used a phone, maybe we will have enough time to track the origination of the call?" 

"In order for us to do that we would have to actually call them and stall long enough to get a signal," Clint said, running a hand through his hair.

"They'll hang up if they hear one of us," Wanda pointed out. 

"Not if they hear Cap," Natasha said, looking over at Tony.

"You put me within 5 feet of that guy and I will..." Tony swore, shaking his head and clenching his fist on the table, "I'm not talking to him. I don't want to be anywhere near him...for his sake."

"I'll talk to him," Sam said. Everyone looked over at him and Tony glared.

Sam immediately defended himself, "I'm not covering for him Tony, and I'm not making excuses for him. What he did was wrong. I'm not saying it wasn't. But we are a team. And we need to use all of our players. Besides, he trusts me."

Tony nodded slowly, "Fine. I don't like it but go."

Sam nodded, pushed his chair back, and left the room. 

"On your left," Sam said, standing at the side of Steve's bed in the medical wing. 

Cap opened his eyes and looked over, "Sam."

"You look great," Sam said, wincing at Steve's state. Broken nose, dislocated shoulder, black eye, swollen face, broken ribs, and a lot of cuts and bruises...Steve wasn't in good shape.

Cap narrowed his eyes, "You gonna beat the crap out of me just like Tony?"

"Am I? No. Do I want to? Yes," Sam crossed his arms. 

"I deserve it," Steve nodded slowly.

"Yeah you do. What were you thinking Steve?" Sam whispered. 

Cap squeezed his eyes shut, "I didn't know it was Peter."

"Doesn't matter," Sam snapped. "None of us knew it was. And that's irrelevant."

Steve's voice was so broken. "They had Bucky, it was my fault. I thought I could-"

"Shut up Steve," Sam demanded.

"If you've come here to gloat, get out," Steve said angrily. "I know what I did."

"I came here to give you a chance to fix this," Sam said.

Cap looked up, searching his gaze. Then he winced and pulled himself up into a sitting position. "What do you need me to do?"

Tony typed furiously, the picture of him and Peter taped on his screen for now. He started at it every few seconds, becoming lost in thought, on the verge of a panic attack as he imagined what they could be doing to his kid.

How could he let this happen? He put his head in his hands. "Anything?" he asked miserably. 

"Nothing yet," Natasha said who was hacking security cameras all around Queens, trying to find any suspicious truck or car that might have been used when it went down.

"All the cameras have been hacked. There's a block of time missing, about an hour in each one down this main road," Clint announced, sighing, pushing himself away from the computer.

"HYDRA covered their tracks," Vision nodded. 

Tony cursed, putting his head in his hands, when suddenly the door opened. Tony turned and his knuckles went white as he gripped his chair and snarled, his vision going red, "You son of-"

Sam had walked in, supporting Cap who was limping beside him. He and Steve locked eyes and within seconds, Tony was up out of his chair and starting forward, his hands curled into fists.

"Tony- TONY!" Nat, Clint, and Rhodey all stepped in front, making a wall.

"Stop, stop man," Rhodey said firmly, gripping his best friend by the shoulder and gently guiding him backward. 

Tony shoved them off, breathing hard and he stuck a finger at Cap, pointing at him fiercely but not saying anything. Then Tony cursed and slammed a chair to the ground in anger before he walked to the other side of the room, pacing, his hands clenching and unclenching. 

"I said same room I'd kill him," Tony recalled angrily, pointing at Sam with a trembling hand before he asked around, "Anyone remember that?"

"I know you did," Sam snapped, "but we've got to put that aside right now."

"Put it aside?" Tony said quietly, turning his anger to Sam.

"Tony," Nat tried.

"Put it ASIDE?" Tony swore, stepping forward in anger, glaring at Cap with tears in his eyes as he spoke through his teeth. "MY KID is being tortured right now because of HIM! Because of that traitor, that liar! I have nothing for him." 

"And that is true, but right now, we need him," Sam said. "We need him so we can track down HYDRA."

Tony swore again, this time under his breath, glaring at Cap who hung his head. He glared at him, sinking into his seat, his other hand gripping his head as if he wanted to tear out his hair for agreeing. "You keep him away from me."

"What do I say?" Steve asked.

"You lie," Tony spat. "Shouldn't be hard."

"Tony," Steve said weakly, looking up at his former friend who was still far away from him. 

"Steve," Rhodey snapped, "don't."

Steve nodded and picked up the phone, redialing a number, putting the phone on speaker. Tony nodded. Everyone stayed quiet, Nat and Clint were positioned by the computers, ready to hack into the phone that was wired up. 

_"Captain Rogers?"_

Steve swallowed, "I didn't think you'd answer."

_"Well, I'm full of surprises, aren't I? Can't handle your failure I see?"_

"You tricked me," Steve said softly, his voice breaking.

_"Yes. Yes, I suppose we did. Are you expecting an apology note?"_

"I'm expecting my friend," Steve said angrily, speaking through his teeth. "Where's Bucky?"

Natasha waved her arms to get everyone's attention and shook her head. _They've blocked it_ , she mouthed sadly.

The man paused and then he sighed, _"Let me move things along, shall i? Tony Stark?"_

Silence and shock took over the room.

Tony looked up, glaring at the phone in shock, biting the inside of his cheek.

"What?" Steve asked weakly.

_"Do you really think I would fall for this? No. You're tracking this call but of course, I won't let you. So I would like to talk to Tony Stark if I could please? He's standing right next to you Captain Rogers, isn't he?"_

Steve looked up. Everyone froze. Tony stood up slowly and walked over, and Cap flinched when he stood directly next to him. Tony took the phone from him, ignoring Cap, and spoke into it. 

"You have my kid. If you hurt him, you so much as touch him, I will end you. When I find him, and I will find him, I will come for you and I will rip you apart," he snarled, his whole body shaking in anger as he spoke into the speaker. "Do you understand me?"

 _"Well that was all very impressive. Big words, empty promises. I'm so terrified,"_ the man drawled, disregarding Tony's threats. _"Don't you see I'm not the bad guy here, Stark? The bad guy is sitting right next to you."_

Everyone looked at Steve who hung his head. Tony's fist was curled, shaking at his side. Steve sucked in a breath and waited for a hit that never came, but one that he would have taken.

Instead Tony licked his lips and shook his head, "No. Don't try and turn this. Steve may not be in the clear, but our main focus is you. I'll kill you first and then deal with him."

_"I don't like your tone Stark."_

"Screw you," Tony snarled.

 _"Funny,"_ the man laughed lightly, _"Peter said the exact same thing. Very rude. Sarcastic too."_

"You leave him alone," Tony said, but it was more of a plead then a threat. Of course Peter was sarcastic and rude... he learned that from Tony, and that would just make his life worse.

 _"You care about him,"_ the man said simply. _"He's like...a son to you. Well I can assure you he sees you as a father, which will only make him suffer more. I will enjoy watching him break. Goodbye Stark."_

"No- no no wait!" Tony yelled.

The man hung up the phone, looking at it fondly. 

"Commander Stein, the prisoner's vitals have dropped again," his lieutenant called.

Stein set down the phone and walked over, bending down to peer into the security camera. The boy was huddled in the corner, in a tight ball, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered. 

"What's the current temperature?" Stein asked, nodding, pleased with the current progress.

"0 degrees sir," the man reported.

"Turn it off, return temperature to normal," he demanded.

"Yes sir."

He walked briskly down the hallway and motioned for the two guards to open the door. The door opened and he walked in, rubbing his hands together. 

"Chilly Peter, very chilly," he mocked.

"N-not t-to b-bad," Peter looked up from his arms and was visibly shaking, even from halfway across the room, but he still had that sarcasm. The boy was practically frozen; his lips were blue, his teeth chattering loudly, and his hair was almost frosted, his bangs clumped together. His breath was coming out shakily, created small clouds around him.

"Come and sit in the chair Peter," Stein demanded.

Peter tried to move his hand and winced tremendously, his bones nearly frozen. The boy shook his head, whispering, "I-I c-c-can't m-m-move." He sucked in a shaky breath, looking up at Stein.

Stein motioned for the guards to come in motioned to Peter, "Bring him here."

Peter tensed as they walked over and hissed as they grabbed his arms. He tightened his grip around himself and they wrenched his hands up against Peter's protests. He cried out in pain through gritted teeth as they dragged him over and shoved him in the chair. Peter tried to curl up again, bringing his legs to his chest but the one guard forced his legs down, clamping his ankles to the chair, the other grabbing his wrists and twisting them behind him. They backed away and Peter was cuffed to the chair again, still shaking. 

"Thank you," Stein nodded and the guards walked out.

"B-bunch of f-fun you t-two," Peter said, giving them a fake smile. 

"How are you feeling Peter?" Stein asked.

"A l-little hot. M-maybe turn o-on t-the AC?" he mocked, clamping his teeth down to stop them from chattering. He took staggered breaths through his nose, his whole body convulsing. But still he maintained a snarling glare, locking defiant eyes with the man. 

"Spiders don't thermoregulate," the man explained, "I figured it would be the same for you." 

"Y-you'd make a great z-zoologist," Peter suggested, groaning and doubling over, his bangs hanging over his eyes.

"When a spider is cold, their bodies send fluids throughout their system to combat against the freezing temperatures. Fortunately for me, those fluids are extremely painful. That's what your feeling right now Peter. But don't worry, I won't let you die," he assured him. 

"Su-ch a saint-t," Peter nodded, arching his back to get his blood flowing again. "So- so what n-now? Y-you freeze m-me, really in-inventive. Aren't y-you gonna b-beat me u-up or some c-crap?"

The man smiled, "here at HYDRA, everything has a purpose. I won't hurt you unless I need to, or have a reason to."

"So y-you're a s-sick philanth-ropist," Peter scoffed, "Great."

"Oh you will feel pain Peter, but since you'll be spending the rest of your life here, and because you are so young, I'm starting off slow. This is nothing compared to what we'll do to you if you don't give us what we want."

Stein stood up and paced the room, walking around Peter who tensed when he couldn't see him. Stein stopped right behind him, the boy too weak to crane his head around. He put his hand on Peter's shoulder, smiling when the boy flinched.

"Besides, you're an Avenger Peter Parker. We all know that. So you're going to help us," Stein smiled.

"H-help you do w-what?" Peter asked.

"Tear the Avengers apart," Stein smiled, ruffling Peter's hair lightly. The boy ducked away despite the pain the movement caused him.

"Y-yeah ok," Peter rolled his eyes, "sure. B-besides, I tho-ught I w-was your lab r-rat." 

The man nodded, "Well, what's the saying...kill two birds with one stone."

The door opened and a man walked in with a small box and a camera connected to it. 

"You're going to tell us everything that you know about the Avengers Initiative: their tech, their ships, who's in charge, passwords, birthdays, everything. This camera is modified to monitor your heartbeat as well as record your facial expressions. If you're lying, we will know."

"N-no way," Peter shook his head, warming up now, his lips returning to normal color. 

"Remember I said I would only hurt you only if I had a reason? You're only giving me a reason," Stein said. 

Peter blanched and nodded, looking into the camera. "Is it on?"

Stein smiled, surprised the kid gave in so easily and nodded, "It is."

Peter lifted his head, "My n-name is Peter B-benjamin Parker. I enjoy long walks on the beach, c-corvettes, and Star wars, the original series, not the prequels. My b-birthday is Fe-ebruary 31st and i have a s-slight st-tutter-"

Stein came forward faster than Peter had expected and punched him across the face. Peter laughed, "Took y-you long enough."

"Is this funny to you?" Stein smiled.

"Hilarious," Peter snarled. 

"We'll be back," Stein said standing up, before he looked at the camera. "Crank the temperature to -15 degrees Farenheight."

Peter blanched before he forced a grin, "F-freeze me again? That's y-your play? You g-guys have no i-imagination."

Stein smiled back, gripping Peter's chin and forcing him to look at him, "I'm just getting started." He punched the boy across the face and then in the stomach. Peter doubled over in pain, coughing. 

"Have a good night Peter."

"Night?" Peter rasped, "Y-you'll k-kill me." 

"Oh don't worry. You won't die. You'll only wish you were dead." The man had one more thing to do. He picked up the bucket of water that had been left by the door and walked over. 

Peter strained against his bonds, jerking to get as far away as possible, muttering, "N-no, no, wait-"

Stein poured the water slowly over the boy's head, making sure his whole body was drenched, Peter arching his back as it trickled down his spine. He let out a cry of pain through gritted teeth, immediately shaking from the cold. Stein dumped the rest of the water on him and Peter breathed harshly through his nose, jerking in his bonds, clenching his fists.

"S-screw you," Peter said harshly, flicking wet hair out of his face. 

Peter awoke to a grip on his hair. He tried to blink but suddenly cold water splashed on his face, drenching his head and dripping down the front of his shirt. He cried out and jerked awake, straining against his bonds. The hand released the tight grip on his hair and Peter didn't have the energy to keep it up. It dropped to his chest and he grit his teeth, squinting his eyes shut and flicking his hair away from his face. He took a deep breath and slowly raised his head. Peter shivered once and then forced his body to relax. The air was warmer and Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good morning Peter."

Morning... Peter flinched, jerking his bonds as he remembered the horrors of his first night here. 

He got hot. Burning hot. That's how cold it was. It was so cold is started to burn.

It scared him, being so close to death. He finally experience frostbite and he was plagued with horrible images of people's skin falling off, broken arms and fingers that you could just pull off. 

For the past 5 hours, Peter couldn't move, he couldn't breathe; he felt like his lungs were on fire. The clamps on his ankles and the cuffs on his wrists seemed to burn his skin, scorching...cold as they wrapped around him limbs. He was shaking uncontrollably for the first couple hours, not being able to sleep because of the chattering of his teeth. The second half of the night was better, which was scary. Peter had stopped shaking. He had stopped trying to gulp down cold air, stopped trying to keep himself moving. Once every hour he would try to lift his head, his body shaking with effort, frozen literally and with pain. He always failed and his head sank to his chest again. 

His eyes wouldn't open, he thinks they were frozen shut, and he couldn't hear much either, the cold overriding his senses. His lips were frosted over, and his fingers were solid. He couldn't even move them. And so, Peter stopped caring. He waited them out. He didn't move, barely breathed. And it worked. He felt the air turn slightly warmer...warm enough to keep him alive, but cold enough that he was still freezing and in pain. 

He looked up at Stein who was sitting in front of him. 

"Let me guess," Stein smiled, "screw you?"

Peter smiled fakely, "Exactly. Glad we're on the same page."

"They're not coming for you, you know," Stein said, cocking his head and waiting for a response. 

Peter sighed, adjusting his position in the chair, "Shut up."

"What makes you think they will?" Stein asked innocently.

Peter scoffed, debating whether or not he should answer the question. He finally sighed, "Because they're my friends. Not like you have any, so you don't know what I mean."

Stein laughed slightly and then shrugged, rubbing his chin, "Maybe they will come for you, maybe they're looking for you right now-"

"They are," Peter growled. "Me and Bucky."

"But they won't find you Peter," Stein finished. "I can promise you that."

"You promise me? Woah, then I'll be glad to say I told you so," Peter said, unphased.

"You have faith in them," Stein observed. 

Peter raised an eyebrow, "You keep telling me things I already know."

"That's nice. Faith in your friends..." Stein nodded, before he narrowed his eyes, "That won't hold out. Give it a month, give it a year. You'll lose hope."

"Shut up," Peter threatened, narrowing his eyes and yanking on his cuffs.

"You'll feel empty inside."

"I said shut up," Peter repeated, louder this time before he realized this was exactly what Stein wanted.

Stein was smiling, his voice competing with the intensity of Peter's, "Realize that they gave up on finding you, and that you have nothing left to live for."

Peter swallowed, avoiding eye contact. Tony would find him before then...right? He would _not_ let Stein get in his head. He looked up and sighed, "You done?"

Stein wasn't, "You're worthless-"

"You're not done," Peter sighed and waited for him to finish, ignoring the stabbing in his heart from Stein's words. He was just trying to get to him, which meant none of that was true. Tony wouldn't give up until he found him. He would find him. 

"and no one cares about you," Stein snarled, "You're nothing Peter. And you're friends aren't coming to save you."

"I'll take that bet," Peter snarled.

"You have no cards Peter, and you're still willing to bluff," he shook his head sadly.

"I have my will," Peter snapped. "All aces."

"You impress me," Stein said happily.

"Why thank you," Peter mocked, twisting his wrists around the cuffs that were still cold to the touch. 

"A lot of people think the best way to interrogate someone is through physical pain. Punching, kicking," he waved his hand like Peter got the point. "But I don't think so. That's too quick. No. The better torture is over time. Slow. And not always physical. Mentally and physiologically..." he smiled at Peter, "those scars don't heal."

"Good to know," Peter grinned cockily. 

Stein got up and crouched in front of him, "But Peter, fortunately for you, you seem to heal very quickly. A blood sample was taken when your heartbeat almost slowed to the point of stopping-"

"Well that's comforting," Peter mumbled.

The man continued, ignoring him, "and I got to look at it. Your cells are absolutely incredible Peter. You heal 20 times faster than any living being. That cut I made on your arm is now completely gone," he marveled, like Peter hadn't known about his ability.

Peter wiggled his eyebrows, "Magic."

Stein backhanded him across the face before he could even brace. Peter shook his head to clear the dizziness, blinking and sucking in a breath. 

"I know you know all about the Avengers. And even more since you interned under Tony Stark."

"You read up," Peter grumbled. 

"Like I said," Stein spread his hands, "I know all about you."

"What's my favorite color?" Peter raised his eyebrow.

Stein snarled and punched him in the head. Peter's whole body whipped to the side with so much momentum that his chair tipped and Stein didn't help by kicking the only leg still standing out from under him. The chair slammed into the ground on it's side, Peter with it, crushing his bad arm between metal and floor. Peter screamed in pain, breathing through gritted teeth and letting out a strangled groan.

Stein yanked the chair back up and pulled out a small knife, holding it to Peter's throat. The boy looked back at him with defiant eyes, but he saw the slight fear underneath, Peter's gaze flicking down every once in a while and wincing at the sharp blade that was pricking his neck.

"You can't kill me," Peter gave a halfhearted laugh.

Stein smiles and moved the tip of the knife. He gashes open his cheek with the blade and Peter sucks in a breath and snarls, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you Peter, I thought I told you that," Stein said.

"Yeah but see I haven't listened to a word you've said since I got here," Peter grins. 

Stein grabs Peter's chin. Peter arches his back in an attempt to get away from the blade but Stein's grip is harsh and firm. 

"It's no use fighting me Peter. It will just make your life more miserable," Stein said. 

"Oh darn, well in that case," Peter said back, his voice garbled from the hand gripping the sides of his mouth, but he did not stop his attempts to free himself from the grip. 

Stein snarled and slammed the handle of the knife in Peter's bad shoulder. Peter let out a strangled cry of pain, glaring at Stein who then let him go and swung the handle across his face. Peter's head whipped to the side and he spit out blood, looking at Stein through his bangs. Stein moved behind him and Peter felt one of his wrists be released from the clamp. He immediately jerked his arm but Stein caught his wrist and twisted. 

"Peter stop," he warned. 

Peter strained, his eyes wide as he realized his super strength was gone. His confusion was obvious and Stein used the tip of the dagger to poke a spot in Peter's neck. Peter winced and looked up at him, as his body remembered the exact pinpoint Stein had brushed over.

_The needle slid into his neck and Peter felt the fluid enter his bloodstream._

_His whole body tingled as it spread, rendering his powers useless with every throb he felt._

_His heartbeat quickened rapidly and Peter twisted and jerked in the chair, his body trying to fight the serum that was coursing through his veins._

_Again and again and again- they had injected him more than once... Peter wasn't Spiderman anymore. They had taken his one definitive trait away. First the mask, then the suit, then his powers..._

_Peter bit his lip in his conciousness or in real life- he didn't know. But he was determined that they would not take his will._

"We've kept you sedated. Face it Peter. I'm stronger. Now let go. I _will_ break your wrist," he said firmly.

Peter snarled, gritting his teeth and straining against Stein's grip.

“I was never one for following directions,” Peter snarled.

“Clearly,” Stein said back. Peter winced, a sob choking in his throat. His wrist was on fire. Peter let out a yell and Stein gave a ruthless twist. Peter felt his wrist- oh God.

He screamed in pain, but forced the other yells down his throat, exhaling sharply and breathing hard through his nose, glaring at Stein and blinking away tears. Stein grinned and slammed Peter's hand down to the arm of the chair, hitting his broken wrist on the metal. Peter dug his chin into his chest, biting his lip hard as Stein cuffed it.

"You have no idea what pain feels like Parker," Stein hissed, ignoring Peters broken wrist.

"Oh, but you'll show me, right?" Peter asked weakly, which probably wasn't the right thing to say. 

Stein grinned, "You've got quite a mouth don't you?"

"Look at that, you've got one too! And it won't shut up," Peter laughed, widening his eyes mockingly.

Stein flipped the knife in his hand and held it against Peter's arm, dragging it lightly across his bare skin. But then Peter's eyes went wide with pain when Stein dug the tip in, blood spilling down his arm. Peter only allowed himself to suck in a breath and hold it, clamping his mouth shut, grinding his teeth. 

"Are you having fun yet?" Peter made out harshly, once he could swallow down the pain, glaring at Stein who's face was pure rage. 

Something snapped in the man and Peter tensed. Stein snarled, pulling the knife away from Peter's arm. He barely had time to breath one sigh of relief before Stein plunged it into his shoulder, leaning to speak into Peter's ear. A scream tore away from his lips and Peter gasped, his mouth opening and closing. He choked, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them wide, closing his right hand into a fist, his whole body shaking. 

"You have no idea what this organization is capable of," Stein whispered in his ear. 

He pulled the knife out and blood spilled down Peter's shirt, covering his shoulder, sticky and wet. _Breathe, breathe Peter, breathe,_ he told himself. His heartbeat was pounding in his ringing ears. The room spun and then focused. But he stayed awake, and he kept fighting, kept breathing; he'd had worse wounds than this and this idiot wasn't getting squat from him. Peter gasped again, choking out a cry of pain, shoving his head back and yanking on his bonds.

Stein stepped back, breathing hard, holding the dagger in his hand that was dripping blood. Peter couldn't look at it so he looked at his enemy instead. Peter controlled the pain and glared at him, blowing hair out his face. "What, you tired?" he groaned.

"Everything has a purpose Peter," Stein said, wiping the knife and setting it back on the table.

"So what was the stab for?" Peter called weakly.

"To give you a taste. A taste of what's coming," Stein said. "Don't worry you'll heal."

"Lucky me," Peter groaned.

Then Stein shut the door.

"His vitals are steady. I've never seen anything like this before," the lieutenant admitted. "He's been exposed to inhuman temperatures and his left shoulder and arm are..."

Stein shook his head, holding up a hand to silence his associate. He hadn't planned to stab him, or break his wrist. But...when in doubt, one had to improvise. 

"The silence, dehydration and starvation are getting to him," he assured himself, talking out loud before he commanded, "Give it one more day and then we'll move him and try shock therapy. I've never seen anyone like him. No one has held out this long."

Part of him was worried, but he would never say that out loud. He shook his head, smiling at the camera that had Peter taking deep breaths to cope with pain, his left wrist hanging limply clasped to the chair, his other hand still behind his back. 

"They always break. Eventually," he said. "Freeze him again. Colder this time. Negative 30."

"Yes sir."

Cap was sitting in the break room, holding a cup of coffee with shaking fingers. He winced and pressed a hand to his head, careful of the massive bruise on the side of his face. 

Just then Tony walked in and froze. They both stared at one another for a second, Steve with a guilty look and Tony with a glare. The billionaire shook his head and grabbed the pot of coffee, filling a cup before he cautiously took the seat farthest away from Steve. 

Cap watched him carefully, and when Tony took a deep breath to speak, Steve gripped the sides of the chair, ready for a fight. 

Tony put up his hand, "Relax. You could take me without the suit anyway. Maybe."

Steve smirked and sank back down in his seat. The 2 men sat awkwardly in silence.

Then Tony looked up with tears in his eyes, "Why did you do it?"

"Tony-" Steve said weakly.

"No, I want to know," Tony said angrily, slamming his fist down on the table, "I deserve to know. Why did you do it?" he repeated fiercely.

Steve took a deep breath, and spoke quietly, "Because of Peter."

"Excuse me?" Tony snarled, rising out of his seat.

"You wanted to hear why?" Steve snapped, "hear me out."

Tony nodded slowly, sitting back down and relaxing his clenched fists, his white knuckles returning to normal color. 

"When I first got the call from HYDRA, I didn't want to take it. They said Bucky for Spiderman, and... I thought about it, but I couldn't bring myself to right away. I don't think I would have. They said they were going to kill him if I didn't respond back in 24 hours. That night I was sitting in this room actually, right here in this seat and Peter came in. It was 3 in the morning."

Tony relaxed even more at the mention of his kid's name. 

"He sat with me and I- I told him that I had a way to save Bucky, but that someone else might get hurt," Steve said. He looked up at Tony, "He talked about you. He said- he said you were like a father to him and that if you were taken he wouldn't care who got hurt as long as you were safe."

Tony sucked in a harsh breath, his nose scrunching up as he tried to keep his composure, or because he was glaring at Steve, he didn't know, and Cap never faced him long enough to tell. 

"He told me that sometimes we do horrible, and bad things for the people we love. But that it doesn't make us the bad guy," Steve trailed off, gripping his coffee cup.

Then he looked up sadly, blinking away tears, "Tony I'm so sorry. If I had known it was Peter, I obviously wouldn't have done it- I shouldn't have done it in the first place. I wasn't thinking, I played right into their hands, and now Peter...because of me..."

Tony bit his cheek, taking a deep breath, "He convinced you."

Steve nodded, not sure if Tony was looking when he did, but not wanting to say it out loud. He spoke quickly then, "It wasn't his fault, I'm not saying that."

"You better not be," Tony said harshly.

"I'm not."

"Good," Tony nodded. He sighed, clearing his throat and discretely wiping his eyes. 

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Cap said, looking up at Tony who finished off his coffee and moved his chair back. 

"Well that's a relief, because I'm not. I may never," Tony said seriously, walking by Cap to put his cup on the counter. 

"I understand," Steve said firmly.

"What you did was careless, reckless, wrong, and stupid Cap. And now Peter..." Tony trailed off, running a hand through his hair roughly. 

"I know," was all Cap could say.

Tony turned around, leaning on the counter, "I understand why you did it though. If Peter's life was on the line, I would trade you in in a heartbeat," he shrugged, before he put out his hand, "no offense. Actually, yes, offense."

Steve looked down and smiled, "I deserve it."

"You deserve worse," Tony snapped, his stare cold. 

Cap didn't meet his eyes. 

"But right now, I need to find my kid," Tony said, his voice shaking. "And Bucky. So are you going to help me or not?"

Cap looked up, meeting Tony's gaze. "Yes."

Tony nodded and turned to walk away. He called over his shoulder as he left, "Nice shiner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me?????? See you in a week!!


	5. What is reality?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKk! Hi!!!! Enjoy the chapter I'm sorry for the week of silence I luv all yall.  
> For anyone squeamish there's a small bone break in this one? Yeah sorry :( not rly lol  
> Also warning this one gets intense. rly sad and instense :(  
> Anyway enjoy! And stay tuned for the next chapter! Thank you for all your comments and support and i'm glad to be back in the groove.

**1...WEEK...LATER...**

"Nothing?" Tony asked miserably. Everything had failed. No titanium showed up. Every signal was jammed. All the trucks were gone. There were no leads. No way to trace the phone calls. Nothing. He had nothing. 

"I'm sorry Tony," Nat replied, setting her bad down, Clint and Rhodey behind her with similar expressions. 

"May's still ok though?" Tony asked. He had had Peter's aunt come to the compound to stay for her safety. They had filled her in on what had happened and the woman had yet to look at Cap since she slapped him across the face. She was staying in the West Wing, leaving only for work, with Happy escorting her. She had barely said a word since the day she got here. Tony thinks she blames him. Why shouldn't she?

"Yeah," Clint said. "Still shaken up, but she's...she's- well what do you expect Tony?" he finished weakly. 

"Yeah..." Tony nods before he looks up with false home, "Nothing, are you sure?"

"Tony..." Rhodey said softly. 

"I have to- I'll be in the lab," Tony said, stumbling out of the room. He staggered down the hallway and used the wall for support as he made his way into the lab and collapsed by the nearest chair. Tony groaned, forcing himself to keep his eyes open as he pushed his feet clumsily against the ground to roll him to a computer. 

He clicked on the screen and it was blocked.

"FRIDAY," he warned.

_"Sir, your vitals they're...you need to sleep. The longest a human has ever been awake is 11 days. You're nearing 10."_

"And Peter's vitals," Tony slurred, rubbing his head and almost collapsing onto the desk before he jerked awake, "you think those are any better?”

FRIDAY didn’t answer and Tony’s voice broke, discretely wiping his eyes before any tears could spill out and setting his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

“I can't sleep when I-" Tony's eyelids slid closed for a split second and he shook his head violently to wake up, "when i know he's not ok...so give me the dang access to this stupid computer FRIDAY or so help me-"

"Tony."

Tony turned around. Rhodey was standing there in the doorway, looking at him sadly.

"You tell me to sleep too and I'll blast you," Tony grumbled, turning around in his chair.

"No you won't," Rhodey laughed with no humor. He sighed and raised his eyebrows.

"Mmmmmmhhm," Tony said, his head dipping again. 

"We'll find him," Rhodey assured him, leaning against the wall.

"It's been a week Rhodes!" Tony's voice broke and he put his head in his hands, drifting in and out of sleep, "a week...and- we haven't found him."

Tony sank into his arms, his eyes closing, his chest inhaling and exhaling deeply.

Rhodey's heart hurt for his friend and he grabbed a blanket from the pile by the door from 2 nights ago; every member of the team had slept in the lab in an attempt to find any leads or traces of the kid and the Winter Solider.

But same as every day for the past week, the result was the same.

Nothing. 

The room was dark and cold. Peter glanced up through his bangs, wet and clumped with blood and dirt.

"Still think your friends will find you?" Stein asked.

Peter sighed, twisting his good wrist in the straps, "Still asking me that question?"

Peter blinked away white spots. He had been getting worse. They had only fed him three times in the whole week he had been here, and he had only gotten enough water to keep him alive. The cold they left him in every night he had adjusted too, which probably wasn't a good thing, considering that they had dropped the temperatures, but they had made sure it was for only small portions of time, so not to kill him. As a result, Peter was just always cold, always shaking, trembling in the chair he really hadn't left except for when the big dudes beat him to a pulp because they were bored. They hadn't given him a chance to warm up, and if he ever got back even roughly to a normal temperature, Stein would dump freezing water on him again. He couldn't fight back either, no matter how hard they tried. They were pumping him with just enough serum to keep him weak, but not pass out. 

But that wasn't the worst part, the shocks were. Twice a day, for the past 7 days it had happened, at random times so Peter didn't know when to expect them. Sometimes they would jolt him awake which was better than actually watching them come in and touch the rod against his chest no matter how hard Peter tried to get away, and no matter how much he pleaded.

His jaw was sore from clenching his teeth, and his cuts that were everywhere, some deep some light scraps from when Stein would taunt him with the knife, were taking longer to heal...especially the stab wound. Stein liked to press on it, drawing more blood and worsening the cut each time Peter didn't answer his questions- which was every time. 

"How's your wrist?" Stein smirked. 

Peter raised his head and looked at the man, "Oh, it's great, thanks for asking."

It had been broken again and looked worse than the first time it had snapped. The skin around it was bruised and Peter could only move his fingers if he really concentrated, and even that caused him severe pain. It was swelling too, but the freezing sessions helped with that ironically enough. 

Stein backhanded him across the face, and Peter groaned, wincing at the growing bruise Stein was creating, the black and blue mark acting as punishment for whenever he mocked the man. It wasn't the only bruise. His body was littered with them, most of them fresh; the older ones had faded mostly. They could hurt him more than any other prisoner they had had, Stein said, because the next day it was as if half of it had never happened. His healing factor was slowing down though, Peter could tell.

The twisted truth though? Peter was glad they were still physically hurting him. He knew it was only a matter of time before they got into his head. He didn't want to think about that because he realized Stein was right: that was way worse. 

He hadn't seen Bucky his whole time here. Peter figured he would have, but he was wrong. And the one time he had asked but that was what gotten his wrist snapped a second time. Stein was losing his patience with Peter, and his sarcastic quips weren't making anything better. 

The only good thing he could hold onto was knowing that Tony was doing everything he could to find him and bring him back. Everything. Peter knew that, and he promised himself that he would never forget that. 

"I've got to be going for the gold here, haven't I Stein?" Peter grinned, relaxing back in his chair. "No one has lasted this long. I can see it in those dreamy blue eyes of yours." Peter mocked. He narrowed his gaze and then smirked, "You hate me."

"I'm going to enjoy when you finally break," Stein smiled fakely. 

"Key word: finally. You can't stand me," Peter laughed. "I'm the one thing you can't control. You can't break me and it scares you. I scare you."

"You are a pathetic teenager," Stein snarled, "I'm not-"

"Ooo harsh words," Peter made a face. "Yeah I'm a pathetic teenager who's kicking your butt. And each day you have to go out there, to your advisers, and the people underneath you, with the same news. That I still won't tell you anything. That you still can't break me. And that bothers you. I have to admit, it's funny to watch-"

Stein stood and his hand shot out, looping around Peter's throat and squeezing. 

"You- can't kill- me," Peter taunted, his throat closing up but he forced himself to be calm. He grit his teeth and snarled, "Whatcha doin Stein?"

Stein cursed and let him go. Peter coughed, gulping down air. He flicked his hair away from his face. 

"So what's your next move?" Peter grinned when he composed himself. 

Stein was shaking in anger and he finally took a deep breath and walked out of the room without a word. Peter grinned after him and the door slammed shut. Peter took deep breaths, just calming down before he gathered his courage and winked at the camera, his cockiness practically radiating off of him. Mr. Stark would be proud of him. Peter smiled slightly, despite the circumstances, thinking that if Tony could see him, he'd be proud of the sarcasm and jabs Peter was thinking up. His small moment of pride and should he dare say happiness was doused when 2 men came in. 

"Hey boys," Peter grinned determinedly, figuring he was going to act as a pinata for the 7th time that week. But instead they uncuffed him from the chair and forced him to his feet. Peter hissed, their hands burning his cold skin as he staggered, trying to get the blood flowing in his legs. He hadn't stood up in a day. His head spun and his knees buckled once before Peter forced himself to get a grip on his thoughts.

Stein appeared in front of him and holding the door open. 

"What are you gonna do to me?" Peter said, fighting the men's grip as they dragged him into the hallway.

Stein smiled. "What I should have done a long time ago."

Peter was dragged down the hallway. He tried looking for Bucky, but whenever he so much as lifted his head the butt of a gun was slammed into his temple and Peter gave up after about 4 hits. He was eventually thrown into a room and he was shoved against a wall. A foot landed in his stomach and Peter crumpled, sliding down the cold stone, scratching up his back before he hit the floor, groaning. His hands and feet were roughly bound with cuffs. 

"Maybe a little tighter," Peter noted, earning a swift kick to his side. He fell, hitting his head, his vision blurry. The two men grabbed his arms and hauled him upright, Peter's head lolling against his chest. He felt a needle go into his arm and tape being pressed on his vein. Peter looked up, following the tube to an IV drip that was hanging. The hand closest to it was locked so tight he knew he wouldn't be able to reach it. Whatever they were putting in him he'd have to fight; there was no way to get it.

The 2 guards walked out and shut the door and it was only then that Peter realized the room was completely dark. No windows, no doors, no light. There was a small slow beep that after a couple times of listening, Peter concluded to go off every 7 seconds. 

"Well this isn't so bad," Peter said out loud spitting on the floor. He looked around in the darkness and silence, his heartbeat already seeming loud. 

Then the door opened and Peter almost breathed a sigh of relief, glad for the light. It had only been 1 minute and he had already felt his chest close up. A feeling of claustrophobia had consumed him, and ever since he had gotten that building dropped on him, it had become one of his greatest fears. 

Stein walked in, crouching a foot from him, studying him with a cold stare. 

"I love what you did with the place," Peter nodded to the room.

"You're strong Peter," Stein noted, "I'll give you that. But this room is designed for you to tear yourself apart."

"That somehow didn't make my bucket list."

Stein only narrowed his eyes, blowing past Peter's attempt at humor. He looked down on him, which Peter hated, sneering as he continued. "Let me give you an example, the small steady beeps you hear-"

Peter cut him off, "very clever. Knock off water torture. Inventive. Do you all, like, steal peoples ideas and then make them your own? That's plagiarism."

"Enjoy your stay Mr. Parker," Stein said simply, standing and walking out the door. 

Peter's face twisted into a frown; he hated what Stein had just done. He had been trying to stall; afraid to be left in this room, already feeling drowsy. Stein, for once, hadn't taken the bait. The one time Peter had needed him to- gosh, he hated that man. 

The door slammed shut and Peter's heart dropped in sync with the bolt. 

"I can take this. I can take this," Peter whispered to himself. He shifted in his cuffs, taking deep breaths. There was something wrong with whatever was being pumped into his veins and the beeping was only getting louder.

"Tony..." Peter whispered, finding a wave of relief by just saying the name. "Tony please..."

Tony jerked upright, letting out a yell and falling out of his chair and onto the floor. "PETER!" 

He grasped the floor, shaking, hearing FRIDAY's muffled voice over the echos of his kid's screams in his head. His stomach churned and Tony bit his lip, clenching his fist hard. He grabbed the top of the nearest desk with a shaky hand and got to his feet, shoving off the blanket that was twisted around his upper body. He picked up in the chair, gulping down a panic attack. 

"FRIDAY what time is it..."

The A.I. paused. Tony grit his teeth, "FRIDAY, what ti-"

" _It's 3:56 am sir_ _,_ " FRIDAY said. 

Tony cussed, furious with himself for actually sleeping. He angrily punched out, knocking the chair to the ground with so much force it spun off a couple feet before it lay still. 

"Anything?" He dared to ask; he knew the answer. 

" _I am sorry Tony. I wish I had other news._ "

Tony stood up and walked out of the lab and started the trek back to his bedroom to change shirts. Pepper was still asleep and he sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward to kiss her. He pecked her lips and Pepper woke up. Tony recoiled, wincing. 

"I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," he whispered, starting to get up. Pepper grabbed his hand and sat up, pulling him into a hug. Tony wrapped his arms around her, taking a staggering breath. 

"Rhodey said you had gone to sleep. I didn't want to wake you- did you get sleep?"

"Yeah Pepp, a bit," Tony said sadly, gently combing through her hair. She pulled away and cupped his cheek. 

"Are you doing ok?"

He looked up at her, "No I-" he rubbed a hand over his face, gulping down a sob. "I promised myself I wouldn't let anything happen to him. I should have done more, I should have seen this coming. I should have been there for him, I should be there for him now...I mean-"

Tony voice broke and he looked up at Pepper who was gazing at him with sadness. He blinked, gripping the covers in fists to stop his hands from shaking, "I mean what are they doing to him Pepp? He's scared, he's alone, he's in pain... I've been having nightmares and even they don't scare me as much as the fact that I know HYDRA is probably doing worse than what I can even think up. And it's been over a week, and I still haven't found him. What if he's given up on me?"

"It's Peter. He's like a son to you," Pepper shook her head. "He will always believe in you. He's strong. He's a good kid."

"He didn't deserve this," Tony shook his head.

"It's not your fault," Pepper said firmly, looking him striaght in the eye after reading his mind. Tony gave her a look and she cupped his face again. "It's not your fault Tony. It's not."

"Yeah," Tony said lowly. He kissed her and got up, "I'm gonna do another scan." 

"Ok," Pepper said, giving him a sad smile, kissing him on the cheek. 

Tony grabbed a Black Sabbath shirt, one of Peter's favorites. He takes off his welding tank top and puts on the long sleeved shirt, and then walks down the hallway into the lab. He picks up the chair he had thrown to the floor and sinks down in it. 

"FRIDAY, are there any other scans I could run? Any last working part of his suit?" Tony said, rubbing a hand over his face and putting his head down to scratch the back of his neck. 

_"His suit has been disabled sir. As of now, I have no leads,"_ FRIDAY reported.

"Great," Tony hissed, clenching his fist and setting it against his chin and hitting it just hard enough that it caused him to wince. "Well try-" Tony started to say before the AI cut him off.

_"Incoming call from Steve Rogers?"_

Steve had been on a search mission for the past two days, with Nat and Clint because Tony still didn't trust him. But if he was calling, that meant something. Tony sat up straighter, "Answer." He waited for the screen to change before he spoke, "Cap? Whatcha got?"

_"We found something. Someone. They're connected to HYDRA. We think they might know where both Bucky and Peter are."_

Tony's heart stopped and he forced himself not to hope too much. He licked his lips and grit his teeth. "Where is he?" 

_"We have him unconscious. Nat's tying him up right now."_ Cap sounded nervous. 

"Where are you?" Tony demanded, standing up from his chair. 

Then Nat's voice came onto the call, _"Tony, we can't kill him."_

"I know that," Tony snapped, "now where are you?"

There was a pause and Tony waited. 

Nat read off an address and Tony sprinted out of the lab, a suit forming around him as he burst into the sky. 

Tony flew, his eyes closing suddenly and he jerked in the air, dipping a bit. 

_"Sir, you have to stay awake,"_ FRIDAY warned. 

"Yeah, I know," Tony grumbled. A second later, it happened again. "What's wrong with me," Tony slurred.

_"Your heartbeat is elevated and is combining with sleep deprivation effects."_

"Well that'sjustgr..."Tony felt his eyes slide shut and his head went down. He jerked himself awake once, losing control for only a second. The next time he wasn't so lucky. His eyelids closed and then they didn't open. Tony pitched downward, and he spiraled for the ground, FRIDAY yelling at him in his ears. 

_"Wake up boss! Tony, now!"_

_"TONY!"_

It wasn't FRIDAY's voice that woke him up though. 

_"Hey Mr. Stark, so I...I need your help. I know you don't usually do stuff like this, but I need help on my physics homework and well... you're Tony Stark so you're kind of an expert on this-"_

Tony blinked, forcing himself awake. I'm falling, he thought.

_"Hey Mr. Stark, so don't be mad, but I put on the suit during free period. I stopped a bank robbery though, so that was good. And this lady gave me a slice of pizza because I helped her baby carriage down the stairs. I also took a selfie with this kid-"_

Tony put out his hands and righted himself, snapping awake. He skimmed the ground and shot off into the sky again, breathing hard.

_"Hey Tony? I- I didn't know who else to call. I'm in an alley on the west end of Queens. Don't freak out-"_

Tony hovered in mid air for a bit, catching his breath. 

_"Hey Tony? Can you come to my science fair? We need a parent escort and- what am I even saying? I'm stupid, it's no big deal- I'm sorry for bothering you-"_

FRIDAY stopped the recordings. _"Boss are you ok?"_

"Yeah," Tony gasped, blinking. "Yeah, I'm ok. Retrack the path FRIDAY. And...t-thank you."

 _"Yes sir."_

Tony flew like a jet, landing in a jog. Cap had picked a nice spot, underneath a overhead bridge due for reconstruction on the other side of the city. Tony saw a man sitting on the ground, his hands tied behind him, and his ankles also bound. There was a gag in his mouth, his head limp at his chest. Clint had his bow clenched in his hand and Nat was standing by his side. Cap turned and met Tony in the center, stopping him mid jog. 

Cap had a nervous expression on his face and before he could say anything Tony scrunched up his nose and snarled. He knew exactly what Cap was doing. He was worried he would go all ballistic and kill the guy before they could get any information on his precious Bucky.

Tony looked down at the hand on his chest and then glared at Steve, "Don't you hold me back Rogers. Not you."

Tony pushed by Cap's hand which he let fall off of his chest and Nat gave him a wary but trusting look and stepped back. Clint nodded in greeting. Tony stood in front of the man and nudged his foot. 

"I knocked him out pretty-" Cap started to say before Nat bent down and tased him.

The man jerked and kicked, yelling curses through the gag. He blanched when he saw the three Avengers. Clint yanked the piece of cloth down and the man spat out curses until Tony pointed his repulsor at him. 

"Where are they?" Tony snarled. 

The man grinned at Tony. It was a teasing, mocking, conniving smile and Tony hated it. He cocked his head, "The Winter Solider and the boy? You'll never find them."

"You know where they are," Steve said angrily. 

"Possibly. And why would I tell you?" 

"Because I will kill you if you don't," Tony hissed, grabbing his collar and hoisting him to his feet and slamming him against the bridge's wall. 

"Tony," Nat warned. 

The man winced and smiled again, "The boy is dead."

"No," Tony's voice broke. His helmet receded and Tony glared at the man, fighting back tears. He shook his head, gulping down fear and horror. "You're lying," Tony hissed, tightening his grip. "YOU'RE LYING!"

The man shrugged in Tony's grip, smiling still as if he enjoyed his fear and anger, "He was no use. Stein grew tired of him."

He punched the man across the face and he coughed up blood, but still smiled.

"And just so you know...he screamed," the man whispered.

Something snapped. Tony's vision went red and he let out a low growl. He didn't quite know what happened next, all he remembered was punching that face until the grin faltered and blood smeared on his fist. He lost control, everything a blur as he slammed his fist into the man's stomach, feeling ribs crack beneath the hit. Tony didn't falter. Rage overtook him and he punched blindly, only caring that at least someone would feel a fraction of the pain Peter was feeling because he was _not_ dead.

He couldn't be dead.

Tony had to see his goofy smile again.

He had to hug that kid again.

He had to go into the kid's room to call him for dinner when Peter was spending the night and find the nerd bent over scribbling homework.

He had to watch Star Wars with him again, and listen to his stupid theories.

He couldn't be gone.

Not Peter... 

"TONY! Tony stop!" 3 voices finally became clear and his grasp was finally wrenched off by Clint and Cap, Nat pulling the man away from Tony and shoving him to the floor again.

"Tony- Tony!" Cap barked. Tony glared at him but Rogers refused to back down. "We can't kill him. Not yet."

Tony fought him and Clint off and paced backwards, his brain spinning, his chest tightening with fear, "He said- no. He can't be-"

"He's not dead Tony," Steve said coldly, snapping Tony out of an oncoming panic attack, "HYDRA doesn't kill prisoners."

"They do worse," the man grinned. He looked at Tony and stuck out his lower lip, "If the kid isn't dead he sure wishes he was. What they're doing to him..."

Clint held back Tony this time. Since he had more respect for Hawkeye than Cap, and he saw the look in Clint's eyes, he allowed himself to be restrained, and Barton looked rather relieved; he knew he would not have been able to stop Tony from pushing past. Tony was not in the mood to crack a joke.

"Why are you here?" Nat demanded. 

"That's classified," the man slurred, his eye welling up from one of the many punches. 

"Well now it's unclassified," Nat snarled, sliding to the ground and slipping her arm under his and twisting, bending the man over, ready to break his arm. She put the slightest amount of pressure and he screamed in pain, struggling to free himself but Nat kept him pinned. 

"Talk," she hissed. 

"We're everywhere. You can kill me. Cut off one head, and two more shall take it's place," he snarled, breathing hard. 

"Yeah I've heard that before," Cap snarled. "Now where's the base?"

"Go to-" 

There was a sickening crack and Tony winced at how loud it was. Nat maintained the hold and switched around to his other arm, threatening to snap that one as well. The man's right limb was bent the wrong way and the man was screaming in pain, yelling curses at Nat who was unphased, just angry. Tony's stomach churned at the sight of the arm that was completely shattered, with the main bone poking out. 

"Talk," Tony hissed, firing up his repulsor and aiming his glowing palm straight at the man's chest. 

"I'd rather die," the man breathed heavily. "Do you know what Stein would do to me?"

"We will make you talk," Clint threatened. 

"You can try," the man seethed. "A bone break? Paper cut to what I'm prepared to go through."

Tony had been studying him and suddenly he sucked in a breath and nodded. "Let him go."

Nat looked up at him in shock, the other Avengers giving him similar expressions as she exclaimed what they all were thinking, "What?"

"He's not going to give us anything," Tony said. "He's a waste of time."

Cap frowned, "Tony-"

"Do you trust me?" Tony snapped.

Cap stared at him in confusion. He knew Tony was onto something; that was the only logical explanation.

When Rogers didn't answer, Tony hissed quietly, "You owe me that."

"I do." Cap slowly nodded and Tony motioned for Nat to step away.

She got to her feet and slowly walked to his side, looking rather disappointed. Tony gave one last glare at the man and then turned around and started walking, the dumbfounded Avengers following him. 

When they were far enough away, Clint reattached his bow to his back and asked, "Why aren't we killing him? Or at least asking him more? He gave us nothing."

"He gave us a name," Tony said softly.

_"So you're scanning for people now?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, "you can do that?"_

_Tony laughed, "No."_

_Natasha breathed a sigh of relief._

_"I mean theoretically I could do-" he trailed off, "just kidding, that's not in my power- anyway..."_

"Theoretically, I _can_ track people." Tony recalled a moment from a week ago.

"He has my kid," Tony snarled. "I'm going to track that man down and kill him."

He fired up his boots and hovered in the air to look down at Clint, Nat, and Cap. "Meet me back at the compound." They nodded and Tony shot towards his home. For once in the past week he was hopeful. 

**Prisoner's name: Peter B. Parker**

**Test amount: 8**

**Trial #s: 24**

**TEST 1 in progress...**

Peter was losing hope. He was in the corner, shaking, his legs to his chest. The door opened and Peter blinked in the light. His throat was dry and his stomach ached. 2 figures were in the doorway and Peter's heart was ripped out of his chest. Tony was pushed in the room, bloodied and bruised, his hands tied in front of him.

"No," Peter pleaded. Stein was behind him, holding a knife and looking at Peter triumphantly.

Peter thrashed in his chains as Tony pleaded with him to help. Stein forced him to his knees as Tony whispered, "Peter, why didn't you help me- Pete please-"

"Stop it," Peter said desperately. "Let him go- please let him go!"

Stein smiled and Peter pulled hard on the cuffs but they wouldn't break.

"Say goodbye Peter," Stein grinned.

"Peter," Tony whispered.

"Tony no!" He jerked forward and let out a heartbroken yell as Tony dropped to the floor and didn't move.

Peter's cuffs snapped a second too late and he sank to the floor, unable to look at Tony's body. Blood was pooling from the stab wound already. Peter heard Stein move forward and then there was a rough grip on his hair, yanking his head up, forcing Peter to look at him.

Stein sneered at Peter's tears. "You're nothing. You're worthless. Everyone around you dies. No one cares about you Peter. Your friends have given up on you. You're a burden.

Stein's hand uncurled from his hair and as Peter dropped to the ground, the room went black again. Peter scrambled backward as far as he could, breathing hard, having a panic attack, grasping the cold floor and pulling at his shirt; the beeping getting unbearable loud, and the silence screaming at him louder than his heartbeat. His head was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up he was so dizzy. 

**TEST 2 in progress...**

The room had changed. It wasn't a room anymore it was a field. The grass was dead and it was barely lit. Peter slowly got to his feet and walked, limping forward to the door, each step killing his wounded leg. Before he could get there he stumbled and fell, scraping his hands. Peter winced and reached out to grab the nearest thing he could to pull himself up. 

"No," Peter sobbed, recoiling and taking his hand off. His eyes found two words and he stumbled backwards, falling again, and scrambling back on his elbows.

The tombstone read: _May Parker._

Peter shook his head violently and kept backing up on his hands and knees until his back hit something. He looked over his shoulder, shaking, and then choked on a sob. This tombstone was bigger, towering over him as the dam inside Peter just broke.

_Anthony Edward Stark_

Peter shook his head, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut, limp on his side on the ground. He put hands over his ears but that only made his thoughts louder.

_"If you had been better...like he said, you could have saved him. It's your fault."_

_"He died trying to protect you. How could you let this happen?"_

_"It's all your fault. His death his blood is on your hands."_

_"You'll never be great, you'll always be a disappointment and a fake-"_

_"Is this how you repay him? he looked after you he gave you everything-"_

_"He got close to you and now he's dead just like everyone else-"_

The voices screamed at him, pounding inside his brain and Peter curled up in a ball, slamming his hands tighter over his ears and crying out, his eyes squeezed so tightly shut tears were barely slipping out.

**TEST 3 in progress**

The floor opened up suddenly and a scream stayed in his throat. The stone crumbled away a foot in front of him, falling into oblivion and he scrambled backward. He heard a faint yell and screamed.

"Hold on!" Peter scrambled up, putting pressure on his broken wrist and he buckled, stumbling and falling. The kid was holding on with one hand, hanging off the bridge.

Peter reached out too late. The kid lost his grip and he fell. Peter screamed and shot a web, and it hit the boy in the chest, jerking him midair.

"I've got you!" Peter promised, starting to pull the web up, "Just look at me! You're gonna be ok."

Peter pulled the kid up, hand by hand, but he felt it buckling. All of a sudden he couldn't pull anymore, he could only stay where he was and even that was getting close to impossible. The weight got heavier and heavier and Peter started to slide forward, groaning with effort, slowly losing his grip.

"Don't drop me!" the kid pleaded.

"I won't, I won't-" Peter rambled. His arms were straining and he was pressing his feet against the edge of the bridge, pulling with all of his strength but still he was pulled forward. 

"No-" Peter said through his teeth, crying out as he tried to lift what felt like a trillion pounds. He pulled as hard as he could and felt the line snap. "NO!" He screamed, dropping to his knees and shooting another web-

Peter missed.

The kid's arms flailed as he fell, his scream matching the tone of the constant beeping he had heard for the past day. The kid's eyes filled with fear and then he dissapeared. Peter sank to his knees in shock, gulping down oxygen through his closing airway. Peter was shaking and he blinked, taking off his mask and taking gasping breaths, his shoulders slumping. He sat at the edge of the bridge and looked at the water in guilt and horror.

**TEST 4 in progress...**

The next time Peter looked up, it was at a store. He put eggs into his basket without even knowing why. He looked around and was about to turn the corner when he saw the man that had passed him up by the counter. The cashier that had made Peter put back the magazine because he was one cent short was hastily giving him money. Peter didn't know if the other man had a gun. He stayed where he was, his back pressed against the isle.

The robber hurried to the door, catching Peter's eye and giving him a thankful smirk before he left. 

Peter let him go, turning around and walking around the other end of the isle. The cashier was cursing and he glared at Peter as he rang him up. 

"Why didn't you stop him!" he demanded.

"Not my problem," Peter quoted him, from when he had turned down his purchase. 

The man cursed at him and shoved the bag at him. Peter got it and walked out. Suddenly there was a gunshot behind him and people screamed. Peter sprinted through the streets, pushing past the crowds. He found an elderly man on his back, blood spreading on his shirt and Peter's cry was caught in his throat and he froze in shock, sinking to his knees at Uncle Ben's side, trying to put pressure on the wound.

"No, no, no-" Peter cried out. "What happened!"

"There was a man," a women sobbed, her gaze frozen on his bleeding uncle. "He was running, he had a gun-"

Peter's heart shattered. His hands were covered in blood and he stared at them. His fingers went in and out of focus and Peter was shaking, his breathing picking up.

"AMBULANCE! Someone call 911! We need help! HELP!" Peter said, pulling his uncle's body into his lap, still pressing on the wound. 

"I'm sorry," Peter sobbed, tears streaming down his face. His head was spinning and his chest ached; his heart felt as if it had been stabbed. Peter's lungs were tight and he murmured, "I'm sorry Uncle Ben. I'm so sorry."

"You let me die. You did this to me," Ben whispered. 

Peter scrambled backward, his Uncle's eyes boring into his soul.

"It's your fault."

**TEST 5 in progress...**

Peter looked up and Cap stood in front of him. Peter's face was already busted and he was tired, barely able to raise himself.

"Bucky's more important. The whole team agrees. Even Stark."

"No," Peter croaked, holding a hand against his hurt side.

"You're a nobody." Cap sneered and kicked him into the wall. Peter felt his ribs crack and he slumped to the floor onto his side, gasping for air.

"Steve," Peter whispered weakly, "Don't do this, Cap please, it's me, it's Pe-"

Cap stepped forward and ripped off his mask. Peter looked up at him with pleading eyes. 

"I know it's you," Cap hissed. Peter choked in fear, watching the last hope he had splutter out into nothingness. "You're expendable Peter," Cap snarled. "Face it."

He grabbed Peter by his arm and pulled him up before punching him across the face. Peter's head whipped back and he saw Tony leaning against the wall, doing nothing. All the Avengers were there, watching this happen...his family.

"Wait," Peter whispered to both of them, being held up by the collar of his suit with a busted face.

The shield came forward and hit Peter right in the head and he crumpled, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as everything going black.

**TEST 6 in progress...**

When he awoke he was shaking; it was so cold. The silence was unbearable. Peter heard a sudden scatter from somewhere in the room and he glanced over to the corner, seeing a wave of black heading across the floor.

Thousands of spiders- Peter scrambled away, hitting the first few off him but they kept coming.

Peter took paniced gasps, trembling and whimpering as they bit him and climbed over him, covering every inch. He backed into a corner and shook his head violently to get them out of his hair. They crawled up his back and Peter thrashed on the ground.

He hated spiders. Ironic, but true. He would have nightmares like this as a kid. He just never thought it would actually happen. They crawled all over him and he jerked and spazzed, whimpering as he tried to get them all off. They kept coming and Peter shuddered, not daring to scream or take in a breath, afraid they would go into his mouth. He swatted at his face and moaned through his mouth that was clamped shut. But they didn't stop. It was now a thick wave and Peter couldn't hold back the cry anymore. He screamed, curling into a ball-

**TEST 7 in progress...**

Peter suddenly heard a metallic creak and he looked up between his arms, trembling and thrashing around. The spiders no where to be seen but his skin still crawling. The room was clear.

"Who's there?" he whispered. Someone opened the door and walked in. Peter slowly got to his feet, using the wall for support. "Tony?"

The helmet was up and he could see Tony's face. Then the face plate flipped down and the eyes went dark red on the Iron Man suit. The helmet was chared and cracked in half, melted down and battle scarred. "Hey kid." That wasn't Tony's voice.

Iron Man raised an arm and a repulsor heated up, blasting the wall where Peter had been standing; he had dropped to the floor before it could hit him. Peter scrambled around other blasts, tears streaking his face.

"Tony- it's me!" Peter cried out, dodging another blast.

"TONY!" Peter yelled, a blast catching his shoulder midair and sending him tumbling backward. Peter's head hit the wall and he threw himself to the side as a fist hit the stone with so much force it cracked the wall. Peter staggered and fell, thinking he was going to a wall but actually falling backward into a corner. Panic filled him and Peter looked up in fear.

"Tony wait-" Peter put up his hands to protect himself, squeezing his eyes shut, tears streaming down his face. A huge blast was let off and Peter yelled, covering his head in fear, the wall shaking around him and collapsing, trapping him beneath the rubble. 

**TEST 8 in progress...**

Peter panicked, jerking his head up. He recognized this... oh God. The building had fallen on him. The rocks were pinning him down at every angle, digging into his skin, drawing blood and crushing his lungs. He could barely breath. Water dripped down his face, making it even harder to breath. His windpipe closed up every once in a while. Peter's arms were limp in front of him and he could barely lift them he was so weak. His fear of claustrophobia kicking in and he gasped for air, breathing hard and struggling. Water dripped down his face and he jerked side to side, hyperventilating. 

"TONY!" he screamed. "Anyone? Please! I'm down here- I'm stuck, I can't move, I can't-" 

Tony was there suddenly and Peter cried out in relief, reaching out a hand to him, "Tony! Help me, please, I can't move-"

Tony was standing directly in front of him, shaking his head. "You disappointed me."

"Wha-what," Peter faltered.

Tony shook his head, "You let me down again. I tried to believe in you."

"Please, Tony, wait- I'm sorry-" Peter knew he had let him down. Time and time again he had. It was his greatest sin, the one regret he had that mattered more than anything, was how many times he had failed Tony.

"I trusted you," Tony said sadly.

"I'm sorry," Peter sobbed brokenly. He looked up at Tony and weakly reached out a trembling hand and whispered, "Please..."

"I'm sorry too Peter." Tony turned, shaking his head, and he walked away.

"No! Wait-" Peter felt the room flip and he tumbled onto the ceiling, down a wall, and into the far corner. The room returned to black.

**...{TRIAL 1 SUCCESSFUL}**

Peter took a deep breath that was choked off by a yell of exhaustion.

_"Say goodbye Peter." Tony's blood on the floor. The cuffs snapped a second too late. Stein smiled._

He brought his trembling legs to his chest.

_The 2 tombstones towered over Peter. He got close to you and now he's dead just like everyone else-_

His head was screaming and Peter clenched his fists. 

_"Don't drop me!" the kid pleaded._

_"I won't, I won't-"_

_The web snapped and Peter sank to his knees._

"It's not real," he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. "Peter fight it."

_"You let me die. You did this to me," Ben whispered._ _Peter scrambled backward, his Uncle's eyes boring into his soul._ _"It's your fault." Peter's hands were unfocused and trembling, covered in blood._

"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real. Fight it, Peter," he told himself, trying to block out the thoughts and the memories. He was hallucinating.

"Peter wake up!" he yelled to himself, blinking. The setting changed back to that dark room, which was better than any of the other things he had been forced into. But then it turned into the alleyway with Cap standing over him.

_"You're expendable Peter," Cap snarled. "Face it."_

"It's not real," Peter hissed. "Wake up Peter."

_The wave of black scuttled across the floor towards him._

Peter shut his eyes, refusing to believe they were actually there. They weren't real. He focused on his breathing and snarled,"WAKE UP!"

_"Tony wait-" Iron Man raised his arm and the center of the palm glowed._

"He would never hurt you," Peter sobbed to himself, his eyes hurting of how hard he was squeezing them shut, "he would never hurt you."

_"You disappointed me."_

"He wouldn't leave you there," Peter told himself firmly, clamping his hands down over his ears. The flashbacks started up again and Peter grit his teeth, shaking his head.

"No- no, it's not real. WAKE UP!"

...

Peter opened his eyes, breathing hard. He was limp against the wall, his chest tight, his muscles spazing from strain. He gulped down air, soaked in sweat. Peter was trembling and he leaned heavily against the wall, his mind splitting. The beeping had returned to normal. Peter felt as if he was going to throw up. He could barely move his jaw from how hard he clenched it and his vision was blurry. He took a deep breath and slumped against the wall, exhausted.

Stein watched the video feed, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how was that??? Let me know <3 back in the game boisss stay tuned for next chapter :) thanks for reading!!!


	6. I Don't Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyy another chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this one. We get a little more cap bashing from tony and things start to pick up for peter, and then they take a rly rly bad turn.  
> Thanks for sticking with this! Stay tuned for more! <3

Peter shoved his head against the wall, licking his lips so he could rasp out, "What did you do to me?"

Stein grinned, sitting down in a chair in the center of the room. "Did you like it?"

"No," Peter grumbled, his eyes pricking with tears.

"Hallucinations are a peculiar thing because once you're immersed in them, until you are at the very point of breaking, you can't get out," Stein said, eyeing Peter warily. He took a breath, "You're top of your class, and a science lover I know, so tell me Peter, what are some causes of hallucinations that you are experiencing as we speak?"

"Yeah, I'm not answering your stupid questions," Peter said, shifting his position in the cuffs. 

"Lack of sleep, temperature changes, social isolation, and migraines seem to be right up your alley lately, don't they?" Stein asked, smiling. 

"Yeah, I'd say so," Peter said, unamused.

Stein pointed to the IV drip that was still in his arm, "Another way to warp your reality of yours was to take a serum made a very long time ago. The government actually shot it down, but enough were made that we could salvage some without them even noticing they were gone. You should be honored Peter. That same serum was used to torture and interrogate men and women on either side, both HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. They got rid of it, while we obviously didn't."

"Oh you bad boy," Peter mocked.

Stein ignores him. Instead, he brings the chair closer and leans his forearms on his knees. "It's made of a couple things I don't have the liberty to tell you and some ingredients used in drugs and alcohol."

Peter smirked, "So that's what being high feels like? How do people do drugs? That sucked."

"Very funny Mr. Parker," Stein grinned, clearly pissed that Peter still had his sense of humor. "That beeping has been getting a little loud lately, hasn't it?" Stein mocked. 

Peter glared at him. "It helps when you're running your mouth. Stupidity distracts me," Peter hissed.

Stein laughed. "I'll give you credit. Barnes had 2 sessions and was completely shattered."

Peter grit his teeth, "And how many have I had?"

"You don't remember?" Stein teased.

"I forgot to count," Peter hissed. 

"14," Stein snapped. Peter grinned up at him and Stein snarled. "You're grinning now, but watching you squirm and scream with every session really brings me joy."

"You're sick," Peter said quietly, forgetting to keep up the tough guy act. Stein was right. He was breaking. Each session would start out the same, and end the same, with him convincing himself it wasn't real and fighting it, but the first half was pure hell.

"You're strong. But not strong enough," Stein concluded.

"What are you even trying to gain from this?" Peter forced a laugh. "What do you think I'm going to magically tell you? Nuclear codes? I'm a 16 year old from Queens."

"Tony Stark has some tech in the Avengers compound that he stole from us," Stein revealed.

"Oh he's such a criminal," Peter tisked. "So what you want me to hack you guys inside? That's it?"

"You're a smart kid Peter. You do more for that team then shoot webs and do flips," Stein said. 

He was right. Peter would hack into databases, enhance the scanners with Tony, send footage off of their security cameras they hid across the world, and he even knew some of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were either undercover or double agents. 

"Aw, thank you," Peter smirked. 

"Keep talking Peter. We both know you don't want me to walk out of here and you don't want that door to close," Stein grinned. Peter's smirk faltered.

"I see right through you." Stein crouched by his side and smacked him on his bad shoulder. Peter flinched at the touch against his will.

"I appreciate the tough guy act Peter," Stein said, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder firmly so he couldn't shake it off. "I really do. But this is the last wall I have to break. You're failing. I wanted to thank you for making this so much fun for me."

"You are so messed up," Peter laughed with no humor, earning another backhand. 

"Peter you've got to work with me here. I don't want to hurt you unless I have to," Stein explained. 

Peter snorted, "Yeah that's not really the vibe I've been getting."

"Every break of your bone, every punch, every slap, ever test and trial when we get into your head, it's all been for a reason."

"Well that's a relief," Peter snarled.

Stein smiled. "I have to say, I figured you would be weaker. No offense. But you...you've beat any of my prisoners."

Peter wiggled his eyebrows, "Do I get a medal?"

"No," Stein smiled. "I am impressed though. Barnes snapped like a twig. We've broken him so bad there is no going back. When we brought him in all it took was one session, and he was ours again."

"Where's Bucky?" Peter snarled.

"Well of course I'm not going to tell you that," Stein said.

Peter lunged forward, the cuffs holding him back. "Where is he Stein, I swear to God."

"Feisty now. I can fix that," Stein grinned, grabbing the chair and walking out of the room. 

"Good chat," Peter called after him.

The door shut and Peter felt the serum enter his arm for the 15th time.

He gulped and squeezed his eyes shut, his back hitting the wall as he gasped and shook his head to clear the dizziness for the 15th time. His vision went blurry and Peter coughed, a weird taste in his mouth. He writhed in pain, his hands still locked behind him and watched the door, waiting for it to open.

He bravely lifted his head as Tony was pushed into the room for the 15th time.

Tony looked at him weakly as Peter stared at him with a blank expression. "Peter, why didn't you help me- Pete please-"

"Say goodbye Peter," Stein said. 

Peter flinched. 

He looked up at the camera with the red taunting light and took a deep breath. "Screw you."

Tony's fingers flew across the computer. The whole team was working again, fueled by new energy.

"He's moving east to Queens boulevard. I've got him on a security camera," Natasha called out. 

"Keep tracking him Nat," Tony demanded, running over to the big screen and already starting a scan.

_"You know where they are," Steve said angrily._

_The man grinned. "Possibly. And why would I tell you?"_

_"Because I will kill you if you don't," Tony hissed, grabbing his collar and hoisting him to his feet and slamming him against the bridge's wall._

_Tony turned off his speaker and whispered, "FRIDAY, give me everything." He did a full body and facial scan, and FRIDAY hacked into all of the security cameras in the city and put a lock on his features. Then she relayed a protocol back to the compound that retraced his steps. Then he slipped a thin chip on the edge of the man's jacket as he held him by the collar._

_"Tony," Nat warned._

"It looks like someone's meeting him. One target, male, same height, age, dressed in all black, super conspicuous," Rhodey said.

"License plate?" Cap asked from over his shoulder.

"I don't see a car." Clint said, looking at feed from one of their hidden cameras. 

"10 bucks our guy's gonna get shot," Rhodey called out. Everyone turned to look at him. Rhodey shrugged, "What? The guy is useless now, HYDRA doesn't leave snitches."

A second later, there was a muffled bang and Clint sucked in a breath. "You called it."

"Bad person anyway. We can still use his steps. Find out where he came from." Tony went behind his chair and leaned in, squinting, "FRIDAY run a scan of the second individual."

_"Scanning. Ok boss, I have a lock."_

"Now track him back," Tony said, biting the edge of the pencil. "Wanda, Vision, how's it coming with Stein?"

_"Talk," Tony hissed, firing up his repulsor and aiming his glowing palm straight at the man's chest._

_"I'd rather die," the man breathed heavily. "Do you know what Stein would do to me?"_

_"We will make you talk," Clint threatened._

_Tony wasn't listening. The agent had slipped up. Stein...he knew that name. Tony had run into him at a black market convention, doing some digging with the government. His 'death' was obviously faked when HYDRA was exposed and Tony concluded he must have been working under the radar. Before the organization went under, he was pretty high in the chain of command, and very dangerous._

_He obviously wasn't dead, meaning he could track him. Tony still had some resources in the black market, connections with double agents or undercover busters. Combine that and FRIDAY's tech, not to mention the tracker and scan he had locked on the man in front of him, Tony would find Peter in less than 30 minutes._

_Meanwhile the man was bragging about his pain tolerance. "...paper cut to what I'm prepared to go through."_

_Tony had been studying him and he sucked in a breath and nodded. "Let him go."_

All he had needed was the name. 

Wanda and Vision were sitting on the floor, surrounded by old S.H.I.E.L.D records. Manilla folders were upturned and sprawled out across the room and Tony had a moment of nostalgia, remembering when they had to search for Ultron this way as well.

Wanda shook her head, pointing to a pile. "We've dug up some dirt. We know where he's been but not where he's going to be."

"That's good enough," Tony said, sprinting back over to the huge screen. "FRIDAY, take our friend's trail, the other bad guy in the alley that just shot the other guy-" he pressed his hands to his temples and sighed. "Just give me all the known stops and tell me where they match up."

_"One moment."_

Tony took of his glasses and bit the bottom of them in anticipation. 

_"I have 6 locations, each within a 50 mile radius from where 2 of the 3 targets have been in the same location."_

"6 circles," Tony mumbled. There were 6 in almost a complete circle, more like 3/4 complete. For some reason that curve and pattern looked familiar. 

"Wanda, Viz, give me any mission that failed of his. In New York," Tony said, putting the pen in his mouth and running both hands through his hair. He blinked once, twice and then the pen dropped out of his mouth. "Son of a..."

"What is it Tony?" Cap asked.

"FRIDAY give me a map," he demanded. The screen expanded and Tony dragged the 3D digital hologram to the nearest table. He zoomed in and centered it. "Pull up a picture of the HYDRA symbol."

It appeared over his head and Tony expanded the skull with the tentacles until the 6 locations were matched perfectly in the curls. He looked at the center of the 6 arms and swore. Then he called over his shoulder, "Vision! Anything about Tallman mountain state park? North of Queens. Anything at all. Hit me."

"Actually yes. A failed mission 27 years ago shows he was trying to gain access of the land."

"What for?" Tony called.

"Tried and failed for attempts to start a training facility," Vision nods. "He never got the land."

"Maybe not legally," Tony muttered, "Maybe he's not building on top, maybe he dug in the bottom." 

"That would explain why they could so easily hide the vibranium. There's enough of it in the earth's core FRIDAY's scanners must have gone over it," Cap whispered. 

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources are thin around parks and public places. It would be the best place for a base," Natasha pointed out.

"FRIDAY send out a scan and tell me how your scanners do around Tallman mountain state park?" Tony requested.

_"Scanning...nothing out of the ordinary."_

Tony shook his head, "That can't be right. How many levels are you reading."

_"Around Tallman State Park I have power level of 7."_

"Maybe it's not HYDRA?" Wanda asked.

"Maybe it is," Tony shook his head. "We have a max of 8 at our compound, at that's with some serious tech. Out in the middle of no where, you're telling me at a place with no wifi, FRIDAY could literally hack a neuclear bomb?"

"You can do that?" Rhodey asked nervously.

Tony made a face, "Theoretically, yes."

"Jammers," Clint said. "Impossible to find if you don't know where they are. They send out a decoy level. FRIDAY are you getting that signal in a perfect radius?"

_"Let me- yes. 10 mile radius. Then levels drop to 3's and 7's."_

"Jammers," Clint concluded.

_"There is an underground pulse, probably where the jammer's source is located. It's in the direct center of the park."_

"It's worth a shot," Rhodey nodded, standing up.

"It's our only shot," Nat corrected. 

"FRIDAY, track us a path. Get your gear, we leave in 10," Tony demanded, jogging out of the lab. 

Peter was soaked with sweat. He took a shaky breath and clenched his fists. 

"Peter, how are we doing? You've reached 24 trials, congratulations." Stein announced, writing something in his notebook.

Peter didn't answer. He stared straight ahead, biting his lower lip so it wouldn't tremble. His hand twitched at his side, his chest aching.

"You aren't going to tell me how you feel?" Stein asked again. 

Peter looked at him with bloodshot eyes, the beeping overwhelming in his ears. He felt like he was going deaf it was so loud, but he knew it was no where near as loud as he heard it in his mind. 

"Oh well I feel great, thanks for asking," Peter said angrily. 

He hadn't gotten water, food, or sleep in he didn't know how long. The past 10 hours took a massive toll on him. His head dipped and Peter started to fall asleep but Stein looked up at the camera and Peter jolted from a shock, blinking and groaning, gritting his teeth. 

"Don't fall asleep while I'm talking to you Peter," Stein tisked, hitting him in the cheek rather roughly to mock him. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is that mean?" Peter slurred. 

Stein hit him across the face, wiping a bit of Peter's blood back onto his shirt that was already covered in it. 

"Tony's gonna kill you," Peter snarled. 

"Why, because I hit his son?" Stein stuck out his lower lip. "Stark doesn't care about you. He's using you. Why would he care about you? All you've ever done is let him down," Stein pointed out.

"Shut up," Peter seethed.

"You're worthless. No one cares about you," Stein said, smiling.

Peter felt dizzy. He looked up at Stein, and found he was shaking, his throat dry, his vision going blurry. He saw double and shook his head, his muscles aching and his ears ringing.

"What the h-" Peter squeezed his eyes shut.

He heard Stein's voice whisper, "All you are is a disappointment. You're nothing."

Peter opened his eyes and saw Tony stabbed. He gasped for air, turned and stumbled over both May and Tony's gravestones, the stone crumbling into spiders that came for him in black waves.

Peter cried out and shot a web at them and it just missed the kid's chest-

He stumbled back into an isle, the things he had in his hands falling. Peter sprinted out of the store and flinched as there was a gun shot. He looked down and Uncle Ben was there, writhing in pain. He looked down at his hands that were covered in blood. 

Peter shook his head and he stumbled backward, turning and getting hit in the face with Cap's shield. With a cry of pain he fell, hitting a wall. Peter sank to the floor into a corner, looking up into the direct blast of Tony's repulsor.

He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his head as an explosion made the walls come down on top of him, crushing him into the stone once again. He struggled underneath the rubble, hyperventilating before he finally let out a scream, breathing hard, his eyes shooting open. 

Stein was smiling at him. 

Peter was breathing hard, limp against the wall, soaked in sweat and he cried out, scrambling backward and punching his fist into the wall behind him.

Peter gasped out, "what did you do to me?" and immediately winced at his voice. It sounded weak, and it broke with emotion as he choked down a sob. He was shaking, his teeth shattering, and suddenly, he felt everything. The cold, the pain, the headache from the beeping, the dehydration, the need for food, the exhaustion- he felt it all and almost passed out. 

"It's the power of hallucinations Peter. I can trigger them by simply telling you the truth. You're nothing," Stein shrugged.

Every one of his flashbacks replayed in his head in the span of 3 seconds and Peter cried out, trying to bring his cuffed hands to grip his head and force himself back into reality. Instead he just sank to the floor against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut to try and stop the visions.

"Stop it," Peter swore. He had a massive migraine, his head splitting. He gasped for air as he sank down even lower to the floor, his hands clenched into fists as he writhed in pain. "Stop it..."

"He's ready," Stein said, looking up at the camera. "Take him."

Stein left the room and Peter forced himself to sit up and shove down his fear as the door opened again. He blinked and steadied his breathing, focusing on the 2 guards that walked in. 

"Hey guys," Peter greeted them, breathing hard. "Go screw yourselves."

Tony found Cap in the utility room and he awkwardly stood beside him, picking a backup A.I. to fit into Peter's Iron Spider suit. He was getting his kid safe no matter what it took. 

He looked over at Steve who had his back too him and part of him wanted to just kill him right now for what he did, or what he might do. Tony knew all too well that if he had to chose again between Peter and Bucky... Tony curled his hand into his fist. Steve looked over his shoulder and caught him staring. 

"I'm not going to," Steve said softly. 

"Pardon?" Tony cleared his throat, rummaging through his tech. 

"He's not getting hurt anymore because of me."

Tony turned around. Steve faced him and Tony shook his head, "don't lie to yourself. He is getting hurt. Right now."

"I said I would help you get them back. Them both back. That's what I'm doing," Cap said.

"And what you think you're magically better once this is all over? Sins forgiven, we'll go back to being best buds?" Tony snapped. "Most of the team doesn't talk to you when they don't have to. They can't stand you, and for a good reason."

"You don't have to rub it in," Cap said, turning away.

"You're right. I don't," Tony snarled. 

There was silence for a couple seconds. 

"I should have killed you," Tony finally said. Cap pursed his lips and fiddled with a magnetic locking device on the side of the room. Tony shook his head and rubbed his goatee, "I told you once that sometimes I wanted to punch you in your perfect freaking teeth. And I had the chance."

"You almost killed me Tony," Cap pointed out.

"The almost is what bothers me," Tony explained.

"I thought we agreed that if you had been in my position, you would have done the same thing?" Cap turned around. 

"We did," Tony said, crossing his arms. "That doesn't make you right. And that does mean that if it had been me in your shoes, you would be having this same conversation, rubbing it in my face, trying to tear the team apart, heck probably trying to kick me out-" he pointed at Cap sarcastically, "you're welcome it hasn't come to that yet."

"You and your ego," Cap spit. "You just can't get enough of it Tony."

"You know I'm right. Everything has been for Bucky," Tony snarled, pointing at Rogers. "You're selfish and self centered Cap. That's why we fought in Germany, because you were too stubborn to let me help you then, and again, you were too stubborn to let me help now and because of you my kid is being tortured by some psychopaths, and I have to listen to you lecture me about my Godforsaken ego."

"I know what I did, and I'm doing everything I possibly can to fix it," Cap said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, because you're such a saint. You said you understood if I couldn't forgive you, but I don't think you were telling the truth there. I can't forgive you, and you absolute hate that. It bothers you that you don't just get what you want. You're like a 5 year old who says they want a new Barbie Dream house, but it's ok if I don't get it, and then one of those store temper tantrums when their mom says no," Tony said through his teeth, only slightly sarcastic. 

"Nice Tony," Cap gave him a fake smirk, his cold blue eyes staring him down. "I'm sorry, I'm not perfect like you."

"It's ok," Tony shrugged. "I'm glad you just finally admitted that you're not perfect. Are the heavens going to open up?"

"I never said I was," Cap said through gritted teeth.

Tony raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, but you sure act like it. You're Captain America, pure, good, righteous, a leader. Man with a plan. You asked me when we first met if I was the kind of man who would make the sacrifice play, and lay down on a wire to let the other man crawl over me."

"And if I recall, you replied you would cut the wire," Cap snapped. 

"Because I would. Because I save lives. You, you force someone else to lay down and crawl over them. That's how your world works," Tony snapped.

Cap shook his head. 

Tony glared at him, "When we get to that base...you find Bucky. That's it. That's the only person on this whole team you care about anyway. But don't you dare, lay even so much as a finger on Peter, do you understand me?"

"Tony-" Cap said weakly.

"You touch my kid and I will kill you Rogers," Tony said through his teeth. "Am I clear?"

Cap took a deep breath, glaring at Tony but he finally nodded.

Tony swallowed down hate and bile and stormed out of the room.

Peter yanked his wrists in the chair. The clamps were secured tightly around his arms and legs, locking them in place. He couldn't even move his head. Peter was only wearing his shorts, his shirt stripped so that wires could be stuck on his chest. Peter was breathing hard and he locked eyes with Stein as he entered the room. 

"What the heck is this?" Peter demanded.

"I've been studying you Peter. I've been studying you for the past week and a half. Pain doesn't work on you, threats don't work- the only thing even remotely effective has been the hallucinations, by the way, how did you like that new one where Tony comes to save you?" Stein grinned.

Peter winced. 

"Anyway," Stein waves his hand dismissively. "I know what makes you tick. It's your friends, your family, and most importantly, the great Tony Stark. It seems I've misread the depth of your relationship. So what better way to completely shatter you then to make you kill him yourself?"

Peter froze, jerking in the claps. "I won't."

"It won't be your choice Peter. Maybe you've heard of the other name your friend goes by, the Winter Solider?" Stein asked. "When I'm done with you, you'll do whatever I want Peter."

"No," Peter whispered. "You can't. You can't do this!"

"Actually, I can," Stein grinned and he motioned for the guard to turn on the machine. Peter felt the clamps tighten, shoving his head back into the seat.

"You stay away from me," he swore, trying to rip his arm out of the clamps but his super strength hadn't made an appearance since the day he got here. Stein went in with the needle and Peter swore, thrashing in the clamps. 

"Don't touch me- no! Stein, please, don't do this, wait-" Peter panicked, his mind spinning. The needle plunged into his vein and Peter let out a cry of pain and terror through clenched his teeth, hyperventilating. He thrashed around, and for the first time in pretty much his whole life, Peter felt the full effect of fear. 

"Don't," he begged, tears actually falling down his cheeks. Peter shook his head as much as he could in the clamp and half gulped down a sob. "Please don't. Please-"

"Are you- he's crying," Stein marveled to his associates around the room. "We're going to have a lot of fun Peter."

"NO!" Peter yelled, squeezing his eyes shut. "Please- wait- no-"

"Hit him," Stein demanded.

Electricity pulsed through the clamps and Peter screamed, still fighting it, tears falling freely now. So this is what being broken feels like...

"Open wide Peter," Stein demanded, holding up a rubber gag. Peter clamped his mouth shut and Stein pressed hard on a pressure point. Peter held it for as long as he could until he cried out in pain and Stein stuck the massive gag in. Peter retched, choking, feeling it in the back of his mouth and he couldn't breathe. He felt like he was drowning. His throat closed up and his chest grew tight. 

"No, no ,no, no-" Peter screamed through the gag.

"When you wake up you won't even remember your own name," Stein smiled. 

Peter glared at him through the tears, letting out a sob. 

"Hit him again." Stein demanded.

Electricity coursed through his body, starting at his head and Peter screamed through the gag. 

_My name is Peter B. Parker. I'm 16 years old and I'm Spiderman. I'm an Avenger. I have an Aunt named May. And Tony Stark is like a father to me._

"Again."

Peter arched his back with the pain, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was sobbing, thrashing in the chair what little he could as his brain spliting. Already he started to forget certain things from his childhood. 

_My name is Peter Parker. I'm 16 and I'm Spiderman. Aunt May. Tony Stark..._

"Again."

He couldn't do it. It hurt so much. Peter went limp, squeezing his eyes shut, biting down hard on the gag as he breathed through his nose. No, please, no, he thought. Peter gasped, flinching with every shock, his mind drifting in and out of consciousnesses. 

_My name is Peter. I'm Spiderman. May. Tony..._

Remember them, Peter thought. All the nights he and May had gone out for Thai. All the Avenger game nights, all the missions he had gone on. Watching Star Wars with Tony. All of their smiles. All of their laughs. Tony standing in front of him at that compound to shield him from the blast. Aunt May giving him an ice pack for his black eye. 

_I'm Peter. May. Tony._

Peter gasped, gulping, trying to breathe, his body shaking as the electricity continued. He couldn't see. It was all just a bright light. He only heard a ringing in his ears. 

_My name is..._

_What's my name?_

_Peter._

_My name is Peter._

_My name is Peter. M- I don't remember. I don't remember! Tony-_

"One more hit and his vitals will fall."

"Do it," Stein seethed.

Peter's body convulsed, his head falling back into the chair, trembling. Everything turned white.

_He was in the compound's kitchen. Peter turned around as Tony came walking in._

_"Hey Pete-" Tony yawned._

_Peter surged forward and hugged him. Tony froze, a little confused at the surprise embrace before he returned the hug, holding Peter tightly. Peter wrapped his arms around him tighter and Tony chuckled slightly, resting his chin on Peter's head and cupping the back of his head with his hand, his fingers ruffling Peter's hair._

Peter slumped in the chair. 

_My name is...my- m- my name is..._

_I don't know._

One tear trickled down Peter's cheek. 

_Tony._

_Who's Tony?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying, you're crying. How was that?? Please leave your thoughts, I love knowing what you think of it <3 :)


	7. Believe Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill meeee i dont want to give anything away so enjoy this chapter and stay tuned because there is more to come! Next chapter may be in a couple of days since I don't have a lot of time to write today or tmrw :(

_"You stay away from me-" ~~Peter~~ tried to rip his arm out of the clamps. _

_The needle came into focus and ~~Peter~~ screamed in pain as the needle dissapeared beneath his skin._

The boy cried out, curling his legs to his chest in the corner, holding his head with both hands. 

_"Don't touch me- no! ~~Stein~~ , please, don't do this, wait-" he panicked, his mind spinning. ~~Peter~~ thrashed in his bonds, hyperventilating. He squinted in the bright lights and flashes, the metal cold against his already freezing skin. _

_"Don't," he cried, tears actually falling down his cheeks, "Please don't. Please-"_

_"We're going to have a lot of fun ~~Peter~~."_

The boy was shaking in fear, his bangs hanging down over his wide eyes. He blinked and gasped for breath, looking around at the dark room as flashbacks filled his head.

_"NO!"_

_"Hit him."_

_Pain. More pain._

_"Again."_

_~~Peter~~ jolted as he was shocked, arching his back. All he saw was ~~Stein's~~ smiling face, whether or not he closed his eyes. Pain overrides ever nerve in his body and ~~Peter~~ arches his back, screaming. _

_"No, no, no, no-"_

The boy reached up and touched his cheek with trembling fingers, and was surprised to have his hand come back wet. Suddenly his head was filled with an ear piercing scream. His own scream. He fell back onto his elbows, backing up into the corner and squeezing his eyes shut.

_~~Stein~~ stuck the gag in and ~~Peter~~ choked, trying to breathe._

_"When you wake up you won't even remember your own name."_

_~~Peter~~ shook his head, screaming through the gag, gritting his teeth. He thrashed in his bonds, his body convulsing with every shock. _

_"When you wake up you won't even remember your own name."_

_"When you wake up you won't even remember your own name."_

_"When you wake up you won't even remember your own name."_

The boy looked up at the man in front of him. He was tall, smiling down at him. The man crouched and roughly grabbed his chin and the boy tried to recoil with a whimper.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

The boy looked up, shaking. "I- I don't know."

"And who is Tony Stark?" the man asked, still not releasing the grip on his chin. 

The boy looked up in confusion. Then he cried out, the man letting him go as he sank to the ground and grabbed his temples. 

_When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in that dark place. It was bright. He was not bloodied, or bruised, or scared. He looked around in shock at the huge kitchen he was standing in. Someone walked in. A man with a goatee, wearing a black sabbath shirt that he liked for some reason. He remembered it, but he was almost sure he had never seen this man or that shirt in his life. He looked at him in confusion as the man walked toward him._

_"Hey Pete-" he yawned._

_The boy frowned, had no idea what he was doing, but he surged forward and hugged him. The man froze, and the boy almost pulled away. Then he felt arms wrap around him and he tightened the hold. It was the first time he had felt safe in a long time. The man chuckled, resting his chin on the boy's head and cupping the back of his head with his hand, his fingers ruffling his hair-_

"T-Tony," the boy slurred, gasping for air, his eyes widening. "Tony! T-Tony...what-?"

The man in front of him cursed and looked down, "What's your name?"

"P-Pete," he stuttered. Wait, that wasn't right...that was a nickname. His real name- "My name is Peter. Who are you-"

The man in front of him sighed and then kicked him across the face. Peter slammed into the wall, crying out in pain. He looked up with wide eyes, more confused than scared. 

"What the-" he groaned. 

"I'm getting so TIRED of you Peter!" the man yelled, kicking him in the stomach.

Peter buckled over as the man’s foot made contact with his ribs. But then Peter grit his teeth and grabbed the man's ankle before he could lower his leg. 

"Don't touch me," Peter snarled, not letting the man pull away.

"Peter, let me go," the man demanded.

"Okay," Peter grinned, twisting his foot harshly and shoving him backward. Stein- Stein! That man was Stein- yelled in pain, slamming into the ground. 

"What did you do to me Stein?" Peter snarled. He was still drowsy and didn't see the guy behind him, and as he turned just as the guard swung, catching him in the head with the butt of a gun. Peter cursed and sank to his knees before he hit the ground.

Everything went black. 

"Let's try this again," Stein snarled for the 4th time. Peter was curled up in the corner, shaking and Stein went over, bent down and grabbed the kid's collar, snarling, "What. Is. Your. Name."

"I-I don't know. What's going on? Who are you?" the boy stuttered fearfully. 

Stein crossed his fingers behind his back. "Who is Tony Stark?"

"What?" the boy asked, shaking in his grip. 

"Who is Tony Stark?" Stein yelled, glaring at the boy. 

"I-I don't know! I don't know," he cried out.

Stein grinned and gave a small sigh of relief, releasing the boy and instead clapping a hand on the kid's shoulder, who recoiled in confusion. Stein waved his other hand. "You don't know the guy. But you're going to kill him."

"W-what do I do?" the boy straightened, understanding that was an order.

"Well, we have something for you," Stein said.

The door opened and 2 guards came in, one holding a briefcase. They set it in front of the kid. Stein took out 2 webshooters and set them in front of him.

"Put those on before he comes in. He's going to try and take you away. He's going to tell you lies about me, about what we did to you, that we're keeping you here by force. But he's wrong. If you want to leave, there's the door. I won't stop you." Stein held his breath and continued, hiding a smirk when Peter didn't move, the boy's eyes looking up at him innocently. 

Stein whispered gently, "Tony Stark will lie to you. He's going to kill people. You want to help, don't you?"

"Y-yes," the boy stuttered, confused beyond belief. But Stein's lies weren't lies if he had nothing to base the truth off of. He licked his lips and concentrated, looking down at the gadgets, nodding and touching the webshooters gently. He picked one up and put it on his wrist and instinctively pressed the button on his palm with his two middle fingers. A web shot out and hit the far wall.

Peter gasped and looked up, "I- I know how to use these. How do I know how to use these?"

"I imagine it's like riding a bicycle. Some things you don't forget. You want to make me proud, don't you? You want to help me? Be the good guy?" Stein asked, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder. 

The boy nodded slowly. He hugged him. His mind suddenly split.

 _"Who is Tony Stark?"_ That man had demanded. 

Tony...He had hugged him. No, that wasn't possible, he thought. He didn't even know who he was.

What's your name, he asked himself. He didn't know.

What had happened yesterday? What had happened an hour ago? He didn't know that either.

Was the man telling him the truth- of course he was. He wasn't keeping him here. He had just given him the right to leave. There was no way he was lying to him, what was he thinking? That was ridiculous.

"I'll ask you one last time son," the man said firmly. "Are you in?"

The boy wasn't sure if he could trust him yet, but he was scared of the tone the man was using. There was one thing he knew: he didn't want any more pain. He nodded slowly, "Yes."

"Good," the man said, smiling, clearly pleased with the answer. "Then kill Tony Stark."

"Where do I find him?" the boy asked in confusion. 

"He'll find you," the man assured him. 

Tony looked out of the jet. "Land here. Land."

Clint lowered the jet slowly and Tony turned to the team.

"Let's go over it shall we?" Tony said. "They have Bucky and they have Peter. We have two teams. Sam, Wanda, Bruce, and-" Tony frowned, "and Cap, will go get Bucky. I'll lead a team to go get Peter. Natasha, Clint, Rhodey and Vision you cover me."

Everyone nodded. 

Nat spoke up, "We've hacked all of the security cameras. They won't see us coming."

"The base is below ground. There's 2 ways in and out. That's it," Rhodey said, crossing his arms. 

"No one gets left behind. I'm not having that happen again. Watch out for each other. For everyone. And I'm not leaving until I get my kid back," Tony swore. 

"Everyone gets out," Bruce nodded. "Everyone."

"Let's get em back," Tony said. 

"Ship is cloaked. No one knows we're here. Let's keep it that way," Clint said, grabbing his bow and snapping it open, notching an arrow and lowering it. 

The ramp lowered and they walked out. It was cold outside and Tony's helmet shut over his head. A picture of Peter flickered to life on the top right corner of his headset. Tony gulped, taking a deep breath. 

_"It's going to work sir,"_ FRIDAY encouraged him. 

"Thanks FRIDAY," Tony said, blinking and clearing his throat. "Alright team. Let's go."

Tony's team and Cap's team split, each going to a different direction to take down both entrances. They ran silently through the trees, stepping over roots. Natasha was bringing up the rear with Clint. Rhodey was at his side and Vision was flying ahead of them. He came back and reported.

"I see 11 guards at the entrance. Heat signatures are blocked, there is some sort of barrier that blocks all of my scanners."

"It's the jammers. Once we get inside we'll be good. Kind of like the eye of a hurricane," Clint explained. 

"So we gotta go through all the crazy first?" Rhodey scoffed. "Great." 

"Remember what I talked about Rhodey?" Tony asked, rolling his eyes. "Glass half full. You know what you just did? You shot the glass. Don't shoot the glass."

"Shut up Hans," Rhodey grumbled, sprouting out a reference to one of Tony's favorite movies: Die Hard.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Natasha grinned.

"Ok there's the door. Clint, take out the watch tower. Don't miss," Tony said, crouching down behind a tree. 

"I never miss," Clint said, pulling back an arrow and letting it fly. The man in the cuckoos nest dropped out of sight. 

Tony turned to his friend, "Rhodey you want a piece?"

Rhodey nodded, getting up. "I'll give him the ex wife."

Tony winced, remembering the puny rocket that had flew out last time he had said that a couple years ago. He bit his lip, "You sure, because last time you used that it did absolutely-"

Rhodey let a missile fly and it exploded, erupting in a line of fire, scorching the perimeter in front of them. "You were saying?"

"That it was a magnificent piece of weaponry, let's move," Tony said hastily, firing up his boots and flying down the hill, shooting the remaining guards that had looped around the sides. 

Tony blasted the door open and dropped to his knee, firing a beam down the hallway, dropping 7 guards. Nat closed the door behind them.

"I've regained signal," Vision announced. 

"Can you find Peter?" Tony said hurriedly. 

"Hold on, 15 guards, coming to our left. 11 on our right and 8 ahead," Vision said urgently. 

"Clint and Rhodey you take left. Nat and I will take right, Vision you get up ahead. Nat and Clint take cover. Go, go, go," Tony said, aiming his repulsor and standing in the center of the hallway. 

"Just like Budapest," Clint called to Nat who laughed.

"What happened in Budapest?" Tony asked, exasperated. The first few agents came into view and Tony beamed them down, blasting every one of them. When the smoke cleared Natasha sighed.

"You didn't leave me any."

"Sorry."

When the firing had stopped, Vision put a hand to his head. "There's a massive power surge at the center of this building. I have found layouts of this building and it seems there's an archive in the center."

"FRIDAY, does that check out?" Tony asked. 

_"Yes sir. Vision is correct."_

"Ok, Nat, Clint, you guys come with me. Vision and Rhodey, you go to find out whatever has that massive power source and shut it down," Tony said firmly.

"Are you sure splitting up again is the best option?" Vision questioned.

Tony shook his head, "I don't think we have a choice. This is the heart of HYDRA. If we shut this down, we shut down everything once and for all."

 _"I think it's worth a shot,"_ FRIDAY announced. 

"Vision can you track Peter?" Tony asked.

"Yes. He's in a cell on the other side of the base. His heat signature is very faint, which isn't good, but it's a way to find him." He sounded worried, but Tony couldn't worry about that right now. He had to find him first.

"Got a lock. Be safe, let's go," Tony said, starting to walk down the hallway.

Suddenly the ground shook, the lights around them flickering.

"What the heck?" Clint whispered.

There was an awful sound and Tony looked up at the ceiling. It suddenly split dead center, making them shift back a stop. The crack in the center widened until it was the length of the hallway.

"Get back, get back! Move, move!" Tony said urgently. Clint grabbed the back of Nat's black jacket and yanked her as he staggered towards the rest of their friends. Tony stumbled backward, in the other direction, holding up his arm to deflect falling rocks and blasting himself a good 5 feet away. The ceiling caved in, about 4 levels of floor, falling down in front of him, blocking the path to his friends. When the dust cleared, Tony cursed and got to his feet.

"You've got to be kidding me- guys!" There were too many rocks to move. Why it had fallen, Tony didn't know, but one foot closer and he would have been crushed.

"Tony!" That was Rhodey, his voice muffled by the amount of the rubble that he was staring at in disgust.

"Tony, are you hurt?" Vision asked.

"No, I'm fine, Tony responded, shaking his head. He cursed and then yelled. "Is everyone ok?”

He got a roll call response and Tony cursed again and looked down the hallway, “You guys go to that power source! I'll find Peter."

"Tony, I'm not letting you go alone-" Nat protested.

"I'll be fine! I promise." Tony yelled, kicking a fallen rock with his foot. "Go."

He turned around and held up his arm, lighting up the rest of the hallway since half of the lights had shattered when the freaking ceiling came in. He turned the corner carefully. 

"FRIDAY, talk to me."

_"Take a left coming up. A patrol of 6 about to come into view."_

"Well I guess I'm going to have to crash that party," Tony cocked his head. He fired a beam of light, bullets bouncing off of his suit harmlessly as the men tried to shoot back in their panic. 

"Which way?" Tony asked. 

The boy was shaking in the corner, his legs pulled to his chest. He watched the door carefully, taking slow deep breaths. 

Then suddenly there was a loud explosion outside of the door and he winced as the door burst open and light flooded the room. He whimpered and put up his hands to block the light, squinting to see the person who walked in. 

The man was in a suit, an iron suit that was red and yellow and suddenly his helmet receded and he stared at the boy with a shocked and horrified expression. The boy watched as his eyes scanned his small form, stopping at some major cuts.

He knew he looked terrible. Cuts and bruises littered his body. His wrist was completely snapped, and his shoulder was the worst wound of them all. He was covered in blood, his lips dry and his hair messy, his bangs dripping with sweat. He looked up in fear with bloodshot eyes, still blinking in that bright awful light.

"Peter?"

The boy frowned. "Who's Peter?"

"W-what?" the man stuttered.

"Who's Peter?" he demanded.

"Oh God." The man ran over and as he did, from the light coming in through the hallway, he got a good look at his face. It was the same man he had hugged in the kitchen of that place in his dream. Was it a dream? It didn't matter.

He scrambled backward into the corner and stuttered, "Get away from me."

"Oh God...Peter, I'm so sorry. What did they do to you?" the man walked toward him.

"Stop!" he yelled angrily, shaking his head violently with confusion. He looked up in tears, pleading, a massive headache raging through his brain. He whispered, "Stop, calling me that."

"Okay, ok. Listen," The man seemed broken. Completely and utterly broken. The boy recognized the tone because he too had spoken the same way, he just didn't remember when. For that lone reason, he let the man crouch at his side but he recoiled when he reached for him. 

"I just want to break the chains," the man said softly. He slowly held up the chains that were attached to the cuffs around his hands. He hadn't even noticed them. 

He nodded slowly and the man opened his fist and a glowing light appeared at the center of his palm, melting the chains. The man seemed to choke when he saw Peter's broken wrist.

”Oh God...” 

"Who- who are you?" the boy asked nervously, cautious about this stranger coming in and helping. 

The man looked so hurt but he forced a brave smile, as if he was gulping back tears. "I'm- I'm Tony, Peter. It's me."

The boy's face fell. 

_"I'll ask you one last time son," the man said firmly. "Are you in?"_

_He nodded slowly, "Yes."_

_"Good," the man said, smiling, clearly pleased with the answer. "Then kill Tony Stark."_

"Tony- Tony Stark?" he asked slowly. 

The man's face lit up, "Yes! Yes, Peter, I'm here to take you home."

"Home?" the boy asked softly.

"They- they kidnapped you, don't you..." Tony knit his eyebrows, "don't you remember?"

"No. No he said you would lie to me. They told me I was free to go. They gave me a choice. They said you killed people," he stuttered, reaching behind him and slipping on the webshooters. 

"How did you get all these cuts and bruises then Peter? Huh, tell me that? Who did those? You've been missing for a week and a half," Tony said urgently.

The boy blinked, mumbling, "I- I don't-"

"They did this to you, they brainwashed you. Peter, I can help you. Please," Tony pleaded. 

_My name is..._

The boy squeezed his eyes shut. "I- I don't remember. It hurts. It-" His head started spinning, splitting down the middle with pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, crying out.

"Peter, look at me. You were kidnapped a week and a half ago. Cap double crossed you and turned you in."

_Peter flinched as the shield hit him square in the forehead and everything went black._

"You have an Aunt named May. Your uncle's name was Ben."

_He stumbled into a gravestone that read May Parker._

_He turned around and heard a gun shot, dropping to his knees at the foot of Uncle Ben's body._

"Stop," he pleaded.

"You're Spiderman. You save people Peter. You're a hero," Tony said firmly.

_He shot a web, missing the kid's chest by centimeters. He watched as the kid fell to his death, sinking to his knees._

_Spiders crawled in waves towards him, biting him, wrapping him in webs._

"I said stop," he snarled.

Tony's voice rose, "You're name is Peter Benjamin Parker and-"

"STOP!" he screamed, slipping the webshooters in and firing them at Tony's face. He kicked the man in the chest and he went sprawling. The boy landed on his feet and sprinted, tackling him as Tony tried to get up again. He swung his fist, catching Tony in the face before the helmet went up.

"Peter! Peter, stop!" Tony yelled, trying to evade his punches and failing as Peter swung himself around the room. "I don't want to hurt you!" Tony warned.

The boy dropped to the ground, shaking his head. "Don't lie to me. I'm nothing. He's told me. You don't care about me. No one does."

"I do care," Tony's voice broke. "Peter, please you've got to believe me-"

"You don't know me!" he screamed.

"Kid..." Tony stepped out of the suit and walked toward him. "I'm the one who knows you the most."

"You're lying," he snarled, punching him across the face. Tony groaned, grabbing his jaw but he kept walking forward. The boy stumbled back.

"You love Star Wars, you're such a nerd, you have a crush on your best friend MJ, you made your first Spiderman suit out of sweatpants and a hoodie-"

"Shut up!" The boy punched him again and then kicked him in the chest. Tony staggered back but didn't fall. He gripped his side with one hand and kept talking, wiping blood from his nose.

"There's a bully at school, his name is Flash, and you could totally take him, but you won't because you're afraid you could hurt him-" Tony said breathlessly.

"I said SHUT UP!" The boy let out a yell and tackled him, shoving him to the ground and raising his fist high, ready to punch Tony right across the face.

"Your name is Peter Benjamin Parker. And you are the closest thing I have to a son," Tony said shakily.

The boy swore, looking down at the man who was waiting for the punch. The suit was a few feet from him. If the man had wanted to, he could have killed Peter with a simple command. Yet, he didn't. In fact, he hadn't even thrown a punch. The boy frowned, his eyebrows knit in confusion. The man was breathing hard and he looked lower at the t-shirt Tony was wearing. Black Sabbath.

_He was in the kitchen again. It was bright, peaceful, warm...all things he hadn't experienced in a very, very long time. He turned around and saw the man with a goatee, wearing a black sabbath shirt enter the room. He smiled at the shirt without knowing why._

_"Hey Pete-" the man yawned._

_Peter hugged him._

The boy's fist unclenched and he blinked, staring down at the man. 

"T-Tony?"

Tony looked into the kid's eyes that had cleared. "Pete?"

"What- I'm sorry, I-" Peter scrambled off him, shocked, and confused.

Tony groaned and sat up, smiling slightly, "Peter?"

"I-" Peter's smile vanished within a few seconds and he shakes his head, wiping his eyes and letting out a small defeated whimper, "Stein, I swear to God."

"Peter, what-" Tony gets to his feet and attempts to walk over to his kid but Peter scrambles away and glares at the camera in the top right corner of the room. 

Peter looks up at him with tears in his eyes, "No. No, you're- you're not real."

"I am real Peter. Peter, it's me," Tony laughed.

"What is this, trial 25 or something?" Peter called to the empty room. He looked up at the camera again, "Screw you."

"Peter, look at me. Tell me one reason, why I'm not real," Tony demanded.

"You want to know why? Fine, I'll play," Peter hissed. "Because 24 times you've come in here. 24 times I've heard the phrase, 'I am real Peter' or 'Peter it's me'. What's next? You have to believe me? Explaining how you got here? If you just come with me, I'll get you out of here, you'll see- I've had it! I'm done. I can't," Peter choked on a sob, curling up in the corner, shivering, "I can't do it anymore."

"He's been brainwashing you Peter," Tony said softly, making his way over to his kid. 

"Yeah, no dip," Peter scoffed. 

"Peter listen to me, just now you tried to kill me-"

Peter frowned and looked up nervously, "W-what?" His brain split again and Peter groaned, grabbing his temples. 

_"You're lying," he snarled, punching him across the face. Tony groaned, grabbing his jaw but he kept walking forward._

_The boy punched him again and then kicked him in the chest. Tony staggered back but kept talking, wiping blood from his nose._

_"I said SHUT UP!" The boy let out a yell and tackled him shoving him to the ground and raising his fist high, ready to punch Tony right across the face._

"Oh God," Peter choked as the memory forced itself through his brain. Then he cried out and shook his head, "No, stop it Peter, this isn't real. Wake up."

Tony's heart shattered. What had Stein done to his kid?

Tony went over and got into the Iron Man suit, reaching out his hand and Peter let out a scream, scrambling into the corner and putting up his hands to protect himself. He waited for the blast that never came. He opened one eye and saw Tony, lowering his arm and standing there in confusion. Peter was breathing hard, shaking, gasping, begging himself to wake up. 

He shoved his head in his arms, "This isn't real. Fight it Peter. WAKE UP!"

"Peter," Tony said softly. "You've got to believe me. Whatever he did to you, I know you know there's something different about this time. Please, you've got to trust me."

Tony started walking towards Peter who shoved himself as far as he could up against the corner, "S-stay away from me-"

"Peter, it's me," Tony said, dropping to one knee in front of his kid. "Look at me. Look at me!"

Peter's fist shot out and Tony caught it with effort, and then caught the other one that Peter had tried to land an uppercut with. 

"Peter stop!" Tony yelled at him. 

"You're- not- real," Peter seethed through gritted teeth, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Tony forcefully pushed his wrists down and surged forward, wrapping his arms around the kid. Peter froze. 

_"Don't tase me Parker," Tony laughed, moving his hand away from where Peter was working._

_"Sorry," Peter grinned._

_"Does it work?" Peter asked._

_Tony wiggles his eyebrows, pressing the gauntlet on Peter's hand. The nano particles covered his forearm and Tony nodded at Peter, turning him around with a hand on his shoulder and pointing at the far wall, "Let it rip."_

_"Bye Mr. Stark," Peter said seriously, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and jogging out the door, turning and giving Tony a look. "Be safe."_

_"Always am," Tony smiled after him. Peter walked out but not before he heard Clint._

_"Just call him son already."_

_"PETER!"_

_"Tony-" Peter struggled to get to his elbows, breathing hard as the 7 men advanced forward, guns pointing directly at his chest._

_Just then Tony burst through the wall to the left. He quickly stepped in front of Peter and fired up a massive missiles, snarling, "Don't touch my kid."_

_"You know, when I first met Tony, he was like a mentor to me. Now he's...now he's the closest thing I have to a father. He means more to me than anyone. And if something happened to him," Peter shook his head, continuing before tears came to his eyes, "I probably wouldn't care who got hurt as long as I got him back."_

_He hugged him. In the kitchen. And he felt safe._

Peter gulped and blinked. Tony still had his arms wrapped around him protectively and Peter slowly returned the hug. Tony pulled away in slight shock and concern. "Peter?"

Peter grinned, still a little cautious, but he wanted to bad to believe that he did for the time being, "About time you showed up."

Tony laughed, holding him at arms length before he realized how cold the kid's arms were- how cold his whole body was. The kid was shaking and Tony gasped out, "You're- you're freezing."

"Yeah, long story," Peter grumbled.

Tony didn't know what to say, or what to do. He just stared at him, and Peter seemed rightly shocked as well, staring back. 

"I have HAD it with you Peter Parker!" someone yelled from behind them. 

Tony and Peter whipped around. Stein stormed in, clicking a button on his wrist. Tony's Iron Man suit powered down and fell into a heap.

"Your suit's disabled Tony Stark," he said dismissively, clearly not caring about Tony or the suit. There was someone else he was staring at. The kid who was curled behind Tony.

"Hello, Peter," Stein smiled.

Peter whimpered and backed up against the wall, Tony instinctively shifted in front of him. "You stay away from him."

"Protective, I like it. I see I was correct about your relationship," Stein grinned. 

"I'm going to kill you," Tony snarled. 

"Are you now? You think, you've found him all on your own. I'm the only one standing in your way. I _let_ you find him," Stein smiled. 

_"This is the 4th time sir," the man said nervously._

_"It has to work," Stein hissed. "It's not possible."_

_"Aren't you afraid sir?"_

_Stein turned with murder on his face. "Afraid?"_

_"The physic walls are barely standing," the man stuttered, trying to support his daring question. "Stronger than last time, yes, but still crumbling. What if Stark can break them if he finds the kid?"_

_Stein raised an eyebrow, "If? When he finds the kid you mean. I'm letting him find him. I'm making sure he finds him. And when he does, Tony Stark won't get a chance to speak. The walls will hold long enough for Peter Parker to kill him."_

_"Sir?" the man asked._

_Stein stormed toward the cell, his associate stumbling behind him, "Peter is strong. I've temporarily erased his memories but they keep coming back. We don't have much time, so I am going to put what time I have to use and nip the bud where it stands. Peter's weakness is his family, most specifically Tony. If he kills him, Peter Parker will shatter," Stein swore, standing in front of the door. "That's been the plan all along. Open it."_

_The cell unlocked and Stein swung the door open and stormed in._

_"Seperate him from the group," Stein commanded. "We have a floor bomb 2 levels up correct?"_

_"Yes sir."_

_"Set it off," he ordered._

_"But we have men-" the guard said weakly._

_"Did I stutter?" Stein asked._

_The guard pushed the button and the floor blew up 2 levels higher, crashing down and caving in the floors below. Stein watched as Tony dove out of the way on one side, and the others were trapped on the other._

_He smiled. "Now we wait."_

"That ceiling didn't cave by accident Tony," Stein said.

Tony grit his teeth, hating when he was played. Then he moved closer to Peter and anger built up in his chest. "What did you do to him?" Tony snarled. 

"What didn't I do to him?" Stein laughed. "I broke him."

"No, I still think you're a jerk," Peter called out. 

"I must say, he's got quite the mouth. Courtesy of you, I suppose?" Stein said, looking at Tony in disgust. "Well I can assure you many of his wounds are because of that sarcasm of his, so you can take the blame on that one Tony."

"The sarcasm was invoked by your stupidity Stein," Peter raised an eyebrow, fueled by Tony's presence who looked back at him and half smiled. 

"I'll drop the temperature Peter, do you want that?" he snapped, "or perhaps a real trial 25?"

Tony looked back at Peter who blanched, shaking his head. "No."

"Good. Now, since you failed to complete your mission-" Stein sighed. 

"Which was killing me?" Tony snapped. "You brainwashed him, didn't you? Like Bucky."

"Very good Mr. Stark, there's the reason why you were in Advanced Placement," Stein drawled, rolling his eyes. "But yes. Peter has been a particular pain. We've had to put him under 4 times. No human could have taken that many shocks, or that much pain, but with his healing factor, it enabled him to, unfortunately, survive and keep fighting the procedure's effects," Stein sighed. 

"4 times?" Tony choked, anger heating up in his chest. 

Peter looked down, flinching every once in a while, no doubt from memories of the torture. 

"Oh, and let's see what else...oh! How could I forget? That last temper tantrum you experienced?" Stein grinned widely, "Peter has had a record breaking 24 trials of hallucinations, 8 fears each. He's still not even 100% sure you're real."

Tony looked behind him at Peter who was punching his leg self consciously. He looked up at Tony with wide, fearful eyes.

"I'm gonna get us out of here," Tony mouthed. Peter didn't nod, but he cracked a small, brave smile. 

"Peter, do you want to tell him what you see?" Stein said. Tony kept his gaze on Peter and subtly shook his head.

"Screw yourself," Peter hissed. Tony grinned. 

Stein sighed, "Yes well, that's been a common comeback from him. I won't lie, it seems you don't have anything else to say?"

"Well guess what Stein?" Peter said angrily. He spoke articulately, "Screw. Yourself."

Stein nodded, thoughtfully, "Yes, well..." he took out a gun and pointed it at Tony.

"NO!" Peter screamed.

"Tell him what you saw Peter," Stein demanded. 

"Stop! You want to shoot me, shoot me for a reason," Tony snarled. "You're taunting him. You gain nothing."

"I gain pleasure," Stein corrected. "This is the closest he's been to broken, these last couple days. I have not gotten sleep, trying to think of ways to...get inside his head." He looked over Tony's shoulder and put his finger on the trigger. "Tell him Peter."

"He would bring- bring you in and kill you in front of me. Then I- I would see gravestones of my family," Peter said quietly. 

"Keep going," Stein demanded, stepping closer to Tony with the gun. 

Peter looked up with tears in his eyes, "There was a kid, I- I could never save him, no matter how much I tried he always fell- it was always my fault-" 

"Peter it's not real. None of it was," Tony said softly. 

"Shut up," Stein seethed, shoving the muzzle against the back of Tony's neck. He arched his back, sucking in a breath. Peter looked at them fearfully, still shaking. "Continue," Stein ordered. 

"I relived the day my Uncle died," Peter looked down. "It was my fault."

"No Peter, it wasn't-" Tony said quietly

"You don't understand!" Peter yelled. He clenched his fists so hard and shook his head, "It was. It was all my fault..." Peter whimpered, wiping his eyes. His gaze flicked to the gun and he hurriedly continued before Stein could threaten Tony again, the muzzle pressed into the bottom of the man's buzzcut, right where his spine started. 

"Then I saw when Cap...when he...in the alleyway."

"And this next one had me laughing. So ironic. What are you afraid of Peter? Tell him," Stein laughed. 

Tony curled his hands in his fists, ready to punch the man across the face.

"Spiders," Peter said quietly. 

"Spiders," Stein laughed. "Now, my favorite 2. Best for last. They both have to deal with you Tony."

"I can't," Peter shook his head, shaking. 

"You have to," Stein said, shoving Tony's head forward with the muzzle of the gun. 

Peter looked at Tony, "This one changed. Sometimes you were here to get me out of here, sometimes you just came in and..."

"And what, Peter?" Tony asked softly. 

"You tried to kill me," Peter whispered. 

Tony's hands curled into fists. That's why Peter had screamed when Tony raised his arm in the Iron Man suit. Tony snarled, grit his teeth and bounded up, knocking the gun out of Stein's grasp. He punched the man across the face and kicked him in the chest. Stein slid to the other wall, groaning. 

"Peter, go," Tony demanded, "get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you," Peter said firmly. He started for Stein with murder on his face, when suddenly the man yelled at the camera.

"25!"

Tony looked behind him at Peter who froze and looked at the door. His kid stumbled backward, shaking his head, hitting the wall and sinking to the floor. "No...no-"

"Peter?" Tony called. The kid didn't look at him, his eyes were wide with fear, focused on the door.

In his moment of confusion, Stein hit Tony across the head and he groaned, stumbling to the side. Stein tackled him, and Tony twisted elbowing him in the face. He and Stein crawled away from one another and got to their feet. 

"Let's see who you are without the suit?" Stein snarled.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony grabbed his wrist and twisted, punching Stein across the face. Stein yelled and punched with blind rage but Tony ducked and blocked Stein's next punch, landing his fist in his stomach in retaliation. Tony kicked him in the stomach and then ran to Peter's side while Stein was on the floor. 

"Peter, look at me! Snap out of it! Whatever he's showing you, it's not real! Peter-"

Stein grabbed the back of Tony's collar and pulled him away from Peter, throwing him across the floor.

"Peter!" Tony yelled, trying to push past Stein. "Peter, snap out of it! Wake up!" Stein roughly slammed him backward and Tony hit the back wall and groaned. Stein kicked him hard in the stomach and Tony coughed, before Stein swiped his feet out from under him, knocking him to the floor.

"Good. But not good enough," Stein put his foot on Tony's ankle, twisting it roughly. Tony yelled in pain, and Stein grinned, wiping blood from his nose, keeping him down as he pointed the gun at him.

Tony looked over his shoulder and saw Peter's head snap towards him at the sound of his scream, his face contorting into a frown. The kid staggered against the wall, pressing both of his hands to his head. He locked eyes with Tony, breathing hard.

"Say goodbye Tony," Stein snarled. 

Tony covered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the bullet.

"NO!"

THWAP.

"Don't touch him," Peter snarled, his arm out, his two fingers touching the center of his palm. He yanked the gun away from Stein's grasp and it clattered across the floor. Peter shot forward in a spiral, flipping and kicking Stein in the chest. Peter landed clumsily, before he collapsed into a heap. 

_"Sir, we're back online,"_ FRIDAY said in his ear piece. 

"Let's finish him," Tony snarled. 

Stein was up against the wall, his nose bleeding and he coughed, shaking his head, "You're making a mistake Peter. We aren't the bad guys."

"Save it," Peter snapped.

"I've only told you the truth Peter. The real truth. Join me in the fight to cleanse this world," Stein said, coughing up blood.

"You're a whole new level of crazy," Tony scoffed.

"Pete, help me," Stein said, reaching out his hand. 

Peter snarled, "You don't get to call me that." He shot 2 webs, sticking his hands to the wall.

Stein glared, smiling, "Are you going to kill me Peter? I won't really die. I will always be inside your head. Every time you close your eyes-"

Peter shot a web, right at Stein's mouth and Peter sneered, "Screw you."

"Don't look kid," Tony said, turning Peter into his chest and hugging him with one hand, firing with the other. Stein slumped to the wall, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. 

Peter flinched at the sound of the blast. 

"It's ok. You're safe. I've got you," Tony said, hugging Peter to his chest. The boy was still shaking. Tony desperately wanted to take his mind off of the pain. He lit up and gently tapped Peter's good shoulder. "I have something for you."

He let Peter go and took something out of a hidden nano particle compartment in his suit. Peter took it in his hand and stumbled, his Iron Spider suit immediately materializing over his body. He laughed, the helmet receding to his neck. 

"Let's get out of here ok?" Tony said softly. 

Peter looked at Stein who had a huge scorch mark in the center of his chest, "Is he..."

"Yea," Tony said, putting a hand on Peter's shoulders. "Let's go."

"Nat! Rhodes? Anyone copy?" Tony called into his comms, he and Peter jogging down the hallway. 

_"i copy! Where are you? Cap's got Bucky. The rest of us are almost to the center!"_

"I'm in the West wing," Tony said, firing 2 blasts at the gaurds that rounded the corner.

_"Get out of there Tony, we'll wrap this up and meet you out front."_

Peter coughed and stumbled, clutching the wall, his knees buckling. Tony stopped and grabbed his arm, "Kid, you ok?"

"I-I'm fine," Peter stuttered.

_"Boss, we're losing him. He's suffering from exhaustion, a concussion, broken ribs and wrist, trauma, and near hypothermia. Internal bleeding as well."_

"We have to get him to a hospital," Tony said to himself. "Kid come here."

Peter limped over, waving him off, "No, no I can walk...I can-"

He collapsed and Tony caught him in his arms. "Alright daredevil. Now hold on," he told Peter. 

Peter nodded slowly, limp in Tony's grasp. "Stay with me kid," Tony said urgently. "Stay awake Peter."

"Sir he hasn't slept in 11 days," FRIDAY said slowly. 

Tony's heart cracked in two and he gripped the kid tighter to his chest.

3 more men turned the corner and put up their guns and Tony turned his back to them to shield Peter from the bullets as at least 20 hit him in the back, letting a missile fly and exploding the hallway. The shots stopped and Tony continued to jog when suddenly Peter tensed and jerked out of Tony's hold.

"Pete what is it- woah-" Tony dropped him and Peter used his Spider Legs to gain stability, tackling Tony backward. He barely had time to look to his left but he saw a HYDRA agent with a massive gun. He pulled the trigger. An enormous fireball erupted in the hallway, swallowing up where they were just standing, blowing them both away from each other and down the hall, Peter taking the majority of the blast. Tony hit the wall, small rocks falling on his back as he groaned and blinked, rising to his elbows.

He felt the ground shift and looking up. The floor gave out and Tony reached for Peter who was limp in the center of the crack. The kid had just roused himself and locked eyes with Tony. 

"Pete-" Tony choked as he fell, tumbling down and landing on his stomach a level below. Tony looked up and cried out as the ceiling fell, crashing through the floor. 

"PETER!"

Tony scrambled to his feet and slid down the hole, running over to the pile rubble. He blasted rocks away until he saw the shiny suit, covered in dust. Peter coughed, pinned on his stomach by half of the ceiling. The helmet receded to his neck and Peter coughed again, looking up weakly. 

"I have bad luck with buildings," he said guiltily. 

Tony cracked a smile, "Let me get you out of here, just hang on-"

Peter suddenly froze and he started thrashing, "Wait- no- Tony don't! Don't...don't leave me."

"What?" Tony asked softly, crouching by Peter's side. 

"Don't...please don't..." Peter said fearfully, shaking with fear. 

Tony understood. This must have been one of his hallucinations. He knelt and cupped Peter's cheek, grabbing his good shoulder, "I'm not leaving. Whatever he made you see, whatever he made you go through, it wasn't real. I would never leave you. I need to get this rock off so just let me go push it off and I'll be right back ok?"

Peter nodded slowly, "O-okay."

Tony hovered and blasted through the rocks before he pushed one off of the pile. Then he went back down to the floor where Peter breathed a sigh of relief. The helmet popped up and Tony winked at him. "Told you." He grabbed Peter's arms. 

"This is gonna hurt," he warned. 

Peter nodded, gritting his teeth. Tony pulled him out of the rubble and Peter let out a whimper through gritted teeth, but that was it. He fell onto Tony's chest, letting out a small gasp, still shaking. Tony held him, realizing he had a new definition of 'hurt' now, after what Stein put him through.

"The team's waiting for us, let's go," Tony said, scooping him up again in his arms. It was mostly just Peter's limp body now; the suit had been literally exploded off after he tackled Tony and the building had crushed him. 

"You're gonna be ok," he told Peter, biting his lip.

"I know," Peter mumbled, wincing in pain with every step Tony took.

It was the first time he had seen him in the light, and it wasn't good. Tony made his way to the exit, holding Peter in his arms, wishing he could have made Stein's death slower for what he did to the kid. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? Leave your thoughts <3 Thanks for reading and stay tuned because we are nowhere near done!  
> I mean, Peter has to recover, we have to see the effects of him readjusting, he has to talk to Cap of course (awkward), Tony has to find the camera recordings of what Stein did to his kid, anddddddd find out something about the serum- a lot of stuff has to happen! That's just a little taste. So stay tuned :)  
> And crank up the angst cuzzzzzz oof. a lot a lot of angst coming up.


	8. What takes the pain away?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so hi I accidentally posted this chapter beforeeee I was done! I deleted it because it wasn’t the full thing so here you go now with the full chapter. Long story short I pushed post instead of save without posting cuz im an idiot so sorry about that but haha y’all got a sneak peak- ur welcome! 😂😂😂 and omg i luv y’all ❤️ you're so sweet like even tho the 'chapter' was so short and nowhere near perfect you guys made my day with your comments so thank you. ok enough of me lol here's the chapterrrrr

Tony carried Peter onto the jet and sat down, holding the boy in his arms. The rest of the suit peeled away and Peter cried out in pain and then curled up against Tony's chest and shivered.

"I know, I know," Tony said weakly. "I had to take it off though, some of the pieces were...you're ok now, you're ok."

"I'm f-freezing," Peter stuttered.

Tony willed his suit and receded and held Peter against his chest in hopes that body warmth would be the best option. Peter's whole body was freezing, and coated with blood and dirt. He was sweating, trembling in Tony's arms, his bangs hanging over his eyes that were squeezed shut in pain.

Tony looked him over as he held him tight, gulping back a sob. The kid's wrist was puffy and bruised, the bones clearly healed the wrong way. His shoulder was a mess, his shirt ripped and stained with blood, his pants too.

He was thinner, and lighter, Tony had realized the moment he picked him up; that wasn't the first time he had to carry Peter when he was hurt. His lips were dry and his eyes were bloodshot when he did open them, and every so often he would flinch, and curl his fingers tighter around Tony's arm with his good hand, his hurt wrist limp against his chest.

Cap entered with Bucky's arm slung over his shoulder and he took one look at Peter and gulped, guilt written all over his face.

Peter turned slowly and his eyes went wide with fear, scrambling back into Tony's chest, muttering, "No. No! Wait-"

"Peter," Tony said softly, before he raised his voice, "PETER!"

Peter's head snapped to look at him and Tony locked eyes with him, "You're ok. I've got you. You're safe."

"I-" Cap stuttered, helping Bucky into a seat, who was quite beaten up and clearly unfocused as well, but no where near as bad as Peter. "I'm so sorry Peter," Cap said quietly.

Peter was breathing hard and he twisted away, curling into Tony who held the shivering boy and glared at Cap.

The rest of the team hurried on the ship and Clint slid into the cockpit with Nat and immediately lifted off.

"Vision, now," Rhodey called when they had gained enough altitude over the park.

Vision pushed a button on the remote he was holding and Tony peeked out the window. An explosion shook the jet and Tony gripped Peter tightly who flinched. The whole compound was exposed underneath the park, exploding, throwing debris everywhere.

"The park..." Wanda said frowning.

"I'll pay for it to be restored," Tony assured her.

Wanda gave him a small smile.

"Is everyone ok?" Bruce asked. No one answered, which was an answer within itself.

Peter was shaking so hard in Tony's arms, and in the light, Tony saw the worst of his wounds. "God Pete..." he whispered, "what did they do to you?"

Peter groaned softly and grabbed Tony's hand in pain. Tony hardly felt his fingers turning purple from the kid's grip.

"I'm not gonna get a date to homecoming, am I?" Peter said drowsily.

"We need to get Peter to the medical wing, now," Bruce said, the minute they touched down. "Bucky too. I can get a stretcher-"

"I'm carrying him," Tony said firmly, getting to his feet with Peter in his arms.

"FRIDAY, how are his vitals?"

_"Steady boss."_

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Stay with me Peter. You're home. You're gonna be ok kid, just stay with me." He walked down the ramp and entered the compound, Bruce, Nat, and Wanda trailing him.

"FRIDAY, give me a rundown," Bruce demanded, already looking at Peter's vitals while they speed walked across the hall to the West wing.

_"Stab wound in shoulder, broken wrist and ribs, concussion, trauma, some internal bleeding, major cuts and bruises, brink of hypothermia, hydration, starvation, and exhaustion."_

"Jeez," Natasha gasped, rubbing Peter's arm on one of the few spots that wasn't covered in blood.

"Whole package," Peter muttered against Tony's shoulder. They made it to the medical wing and Tony gently set Peter down on the table. Bruce pulled up a screen and frowned.

"His healing factor isn't working as fast as it normally does, if at all?"

"I've been hurt too much," Peter said quietly, wincing in pain. "The cold didn't help, it shocked my powers into a sort of coma, using them against me, and they sedated me to make sure I couldn't heal as fast and that I didn't have my strength."

"Peter, how do you know that?" Tony asked softly.

Peter looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes that were wrongfully filled with pain. "He told me. He told me everything. Everything was for a reason."

Tony's hand curled into a fist. _He told me._ What kind of person would tell that to a kid?

Bruce's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Tony, I have to operate, now. If his internal bleeding doesn't stop...things could get bad. Then we'll have to wait for the rest, but we need to hurry," he said urgently, calling 2 doctors in. Bruce pulled out an anesthetic and flicked the needle.

Peter took one look at it and let out a strangled yelp, scrambling to the far edge of the table and curling up, shaking his head violently. "N-no," Peter whimpered.

Tony's heart shattered and he grabbed Peter's good shoulder. "Pete, look at me. You're safe. Stein can't hurt you anymore. Bruce needs to fix you up, ok? I don't want to see you in any more pain. Do it for me, ok? Please?"

Peter stared at him, tears filling up in his eyes, but he nodded slowly. Bruce walked over and Peter's eyes flicked to the needle.

"Pete, hey, look at me," Tony said urgently.

The boy's gaze snapped back to Tony's face as he locked eyes with him. Bruce gently slid the needle into his neck and Peter flinched once but made no sound. Tony had a feeling it wasn't in pain. Tony gripped Peter's hand and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm right here. You be strong for me Parker, ok? I'm so proud of you."

Peter's eyelids drooped and he mumbled something before his head lowered and fell to the side of the operating table. He exhaled deeply, his face anything but peaceful. One tear slid down the side of his face which made Tony's heart ache. Seeing the bruises on the kid's neck from how many times he had been injected just made it hurt more. He cursed under his breath, shaking his head and running a hand through his greying buzzcut.

Bruce put a hand on his arm, "Tony, we have to sanitize the room, you have to step out, just for the surgery at least."

"I said I would be here for him," Tony said firmly.

"Peter won't know you're gone. You can stand right outside. We can't do the procedure when you're in the room," Bruce said urgently.

"Fine," Tony muttered. He squeezed Peter's limp hand and took one last look at the kid before he pointed at Bruce, "take care of him."

"I will," Bruce nodded, "I promise." Tony walked out and shut the door behind him, about to sit down when Pepper came running down the hallway.

Tony met her halfway, picking her up in a hug. She wrapped her arms around him before she pulled away and kissed him, her hands cupping his cheeks gently.

"Are you ok?" she asked, putting her forehead against his and breathing a small sigh of relief.

"I'm fine," Tony said sadly, "the kid...Pepper I-"

"How bad?" she whispered in a broken voice, looking over his shoulder to the medical room.

Tony shook his head, "He spent a week and a half in literal hell. The things they did to him because he wouldn't break, Pepper..." Tony ran a hand over his face.

"He didn't know who he was, or who I was when I first found him. Stein, he brainwashed him but Peter would always remember somehow, always. He almost killed me and then snapped out of it-"

"Is that even possible? That wasn't the case with Bucky," Pepper said in awe.

"They did the procedure 4 times. They put him through that 4 times. And... maybe it's his powers that made it wear off, I don't know- sometimes I wish he never had them," Tony said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked softly.

"All it brought him was pain. They knew he would heal so they hurt him more. He's got the best dang immune system out of all of us, and the most spirit- you know how stubborn he is Pepper. They used that to hurt him. And of course he didn't help," Tony laughed through a small sob, "He's as sarcastic as me, which got him nowhere."

Pepper gave a light laugh, her hand rubbing his shoulder.

Tony's expression went dark and he looked behind him at the medical wing, "When Stein came in...Pepper if you had seen his face..."

He didn't know how to explain the expression he saw when that man walked through the cell door. He shook his head, his voice cracking with emotion, "I've never seen him scared before, truly scared. They did something to him, they got in his head, and...a surgery won't fix that Pepper. I- I don't know if he's going to be ok, like fully ok..."

Pepper pursed her lips and Tony shrugged, faking a laugh and clearing his throat, "I guess I just wished that I would be the only one with nightmares and panic attacks. I never wanted him to go through what I go through and I have a bad feeling it's going to be worse."

Pepper kissed him again, rubbing her thumb on his cheek, "He's gonna be ok. He has you. He has us. You just need to be there for him, let him know you understand him. He's proven he's strong. If he can get through what he did, he can come back from it."

"Yeah," Tony said quietly, rubbing his nose.

"I'm going to call May, ok?" she said, hugging him again, "Let her know Peter's back. Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

"No I- I'm gonna stay here," Tony decided, looking back at the closed door.

"Ok. I love you," Pepper said, "and when Peter wakes up tell him I love him too."

"Thanks Pepp," Tony gave her a small smile of appreciation. She kissed him and then walked down the hall. Someone else came around the corner and Tony's face fell.

He paced the width of the hallway back and forth, thinking, _please don't talk to me please don't talk to me please don't-_

"Tony, I-"

"I'm not in the mood Rogers," Tony said, not even looking at Cap.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Steve asked softly.

Tony glared at him and choked on his next words. He shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I- I don't know. I think so."

Peter sleepily opened his eyes.

He tried to move his arms and found they were strapped to the table, already bleeding from rope burns. He yanked his wrists, hissing in pain as his broken one jolted.

There was a blinding light in his eyes and he squinted, blinking away white spots, trying to see the room. He didn't need to see. He knew where he was, but he had thought the nightmare was over. He thought Tony had come and saved him. He thought there would be no more pain, no more fear. He thought he was safe again.

_No, please, no, not again._

Peter's heartbeat quickened, he tried to breath but suddenly there was a gag in his mouth, shoved into the back of his throat and Peter thrashed, barely able to breath. His scream came out muffled and Peter choked, breathing deeply through his nose that was coated in dried blood, making it harder.

Peter turned his head and suddenly there was a piercing stab in his neck from the needle, disappearing beneath his skin for the millionth time and pumping the serum in his veins, causing more pain. A shock came, rippling through his whole body and Peter strained, whimpering as he thrashed in the straps.

_Hit him._

Another shock. Peter felt tears come to his eyes, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. 

_Again._ Stein leaned over him, smiling, "Peter-"

Everything went black.

 _"Pe_ ter _!"_

" _T_ on _y, help_ me-"

Was it real?

" _Wake_ him _up_ -"

Was it just a trick?

"PETER!"

Peter gasped and his eyes shot open. Tony was cupping his face with both hands, practically glaring down at him with such intensity that it snapped Peter awake. The glare wasn't in anger, it was filled with hope, compassion, reassurance, and pride. Because of that, Peter steadied his breathing.

"You're safe. You're here with us, you're ok. Breathe kid, look at me," Tony said firmly, giving him a small smile.

"I- I'm sorry," Peter said weakly, grabbing Tony's arm just for a feeling of contact.

"No, don't say sorry kid," Tony said softly.

Peter gave him a small nod and then looked at Bruce, "Am I- did you- am I ok?"

"We stopped the internal bleeding. You've got an IV drip in. Ease back into eating and drinking and go to bed in a couple hours, no staying up."

"No parties," Tony teased. Peter laughed lightly.

Bruce motioned with his pen, "Your ribs and shoulder have to heal, as well as the cuts and bruises, but as long as you don't do anything stupid," he winked at Peter, "they won't get infected. I can't...give you any more pain medicine though, for a long time. Your system has to get back to normal and they pumped too much in it already."

Peter hung his head, nodding slowly, "It's- it's ok."

"I am sorry Peter, but we need to be on the safe side," Bruce said nervously, "which also means this next part is not going to be very fun."

"What?" Peter said, his voice on edge. 

"Your wrist? It...it healed the wrong way and we can't reset it without..." Bruce trailed off, tapping a pen against his clipboard in worry.

"Without breaking it," Peter finished his sentence, laughing with no humor. 

"I don't want to risk putting you under again, so we have to...we have to just break it," Bruce said plainly, clearly not wanting to sugar coat it.

"Ok," Peter said, curling his fist and holding his hand out. He took a shaky breath and nodded. "Ok."

Tony put a hand on Peter's shoulder, "I'm right here."

"Yeah," Peter nodded, before he gave a smile that acted only as a cover up, "It's not that bad, it's just a bone right?"

Tony smiled back, but his was also forced, hating how Peter was hiding so much fear. It wasn't just going to be the pain of snapping a wrist for the 3rd time, but the pain of the flashbacks it would cause. 

Bruce pulled over a screen and hovered it over Peter's extended arm that was trembling only slightly. Tony moved closer and instinctively Peter gripped his sleeve tightly, turning his head into Stark's shoulder. Tony put a hand on Peter's head, rubbing his curls and nodded at Bruce. The kid sucked in a breath and tensed. 

_Stein moved behind him and Peter felt one of his wrists be released from the clamp. He immediately jerked his arm in twisted glee in hopes of freedom, but Stein caught his wrist and twisted. Peter hissed in pain as he put pressure on his cut up arm but he narrowed his eyes and pulled back, his arm trembling with effort._

_"Peter stop," Stein warned._ _"Face it Peter. I'm stronger. Now let go. I will break your wrist," he said firmly._

_Peter snarled, gritting his teeth and straining against Stein's grip. “I was never one for following directions."_

_“Clearly,” Stein said back. Peter winced, a sob choking in his throat. His wrist was on fire. Peter let out a yell and Stein gave a ruthless twist. Peter felt his wrist- oh God._

_"Peter, tell me at least the access code. It's only 8 numbers," Stein said plainly._

_"And screw you is only 8 letters, would you look at that?" Peter snarled back. Stein hit him across the face and Peter's head whipped back and he shook the dizziness out of his head, spitting out blood._

_"Where's Bucky?" he murmured._

_"The numbers Peter," Stein urged._

_"8 7 7 2 4 1- I don't give a crap. Where's Bucky?" Peter yelled._

_Stein grabbed his healing wrist and Peter hissed in pain. Stein gripped it hard and started to twist and Peter let out a choked sob, arching his back, his arm shaking._

_"Give me the code Peter," Stein threatened._

_Peter could hear the bone starting to crack. He controlled his breathing and glared defiantly at Stein, "Do it."_

SNAP.

Bruce broke the bone and Peter flinched once, but he didn't even let out a whimper. He dug his head into Tony's shoulder and he could tell the kid was gritting his teeth; Peter's jaw was tense. Tony bit his lip and clutched the back of Peter's head, holding him tightly, well aware of the boy's white knuckles that were clenching the side of the surgical table. He was trembling against Tony's chest, still rather cold too. 

Bruce set the bone and then quickly put it into a cast. Peter stayed still the entire time and Tony tapped his shoulder when Bruce nodded that he was done. 

Peter moved away from Tony's shoulder and he saw Peter's face before he switched it into a fake grin- tearful eyes that had been squeezed shut, his lower lip trembling, pain written all over his face. 

"You ok?" Tony asked, grabbing a blanket from the nearby chair and draping it over Peter's shoulders. The kid looked up at him gratefully. 

Peter nodded, "Yeah."

"If you're tired you can take a nap, or if you're hungry, or thirsty, or whatever, you name it kid-" Tony rambled, unsure of what to say to fix all this. 

"Aunt May?" Peter said softly. 

"Pepper called her and she's getting her as fast as she can. I'd say give her 20, you know how fast she drives," Tony winked. 

"Ok," Peter gave a slight smile. "Well, I- I am hungry."

"Ok," Tony clapped his hands. "Hungry is good. I'll get some-"

"No, I- I want to..." Peter trailed off before he finally took a deep breath. "I've been tied to a chair for the past week and a half. I want to walk."

Tony nodded vigorously and cleared a path to the door, asking, "Can you stand?"

"Yeah," Peter said determinedly, sliding carefully off the table. He got to his feet and took a deep breath, nodding at Tony, rather happy about his accomplishment. 

"Good job kid," Tony said, still standing close by in case- Peter took one step and let out a cry of pain, falling forward as his knee buckled. 

"Woah there Parker," Tony said, catching the boy in his arms. He set Peter back up and slung his good arm over his shoulder, "one step at a time."

Peter's face was that of pain and anger, not with Tony, but with himself. He couldn't blame him. The kid jumped 40 feet and did triple back flips for fun, and now he can't take one step? 

"I got him," Tony said to Bruce who nodded and smiled at Peter.

"Thanks Bruce," Peter said sincerely. 

"Anytime Spiderman," Bruce winked and walked out the other exit of the medical lab. 

Peter shook his head and gave a weak smile, "So they know now?"

"Yeah," Tony laughed. "I mean it wasn't hard to figure out once you went missing and then Cap..." Tony trailed off, regretting his choice of words. 

Peter went silent as they limped down the hallway. "So Cap...he, what did he say?"

"I found out before he could tell us. Ned was the one who actually clued me in, said you told him what you were doing on the phone the night before. I tracked you to the alley but...you were already gone..."

Peter gulped, hanging his head, flicking a gaze to his bandaged shoulder. "They dug the chip-" 

"I know kid," Tony said quickly, not wanting him to relive the first moments of pain he experienced. They walked in silence a little more before Tony asked quietly, "Were they waiting for you? That night?" 

Peter frowned. 

_"Cap! Steve! It's a trap! They're behind you! Get out of there now-_

He had fallen for that. He had saved Cap, and they had gone for him, and Steve had done nothing...

_Steve was just standing there, the agent that had been holding him in a headlock was gone, and Peter looked down, recognizing him as the man Peter had just knocked out._

_"Steve?" he asked, before he was clocked over the head-_

Peter winced as he relived the few moments of the fight before the real kicker made his chest tighten.

_"Steve why didn't you-" he mumbled, turning back around. Peter tensed and didn't move fast enough. Cap's shield came straight at his face. The star hit him right in the forehead and Peter staggered, in too much in pain to make a sound. He whimpered slightly as Cap lowered his shield. Peter looked him in fear, swaying, before his knees buckled all together and he collapsed, his head spinning. He tried to get to his elbows and failed, a bump already forming on his forehead, blood trickling down his eyebrow._

He didn't want to mention that Steve was the one who delivered the final blow.

"Steve _please-" Peter whispered. Cap locked eyes with him painfully and shook his head. Peter continued to plead, his head trembling even though his chin was only an inch off the ground, "please it's me Steve, don't let them- it's P-"_

_"I did what you asked-"_

Peter cleared his throat and answered Tony's question before he could get suspicious, "You could say that."

"What do you want kid?" Tony asked, his arm still around Peter, making him feel safe.

"Cheeseburger," Peter said, straightening a bit. 

Tony grinned, ruffling his hair slightly, "Make that 2."

Tony helped him sit down at the nearest table in the empty mess hall. Peter winced as he sat in the chair, constantly moving around to remind himself that he actually could move. He checked over his shoulder every once in a while, making sure no one would sneak up behind him and put him in a headlock, while someone else cuffed his wrists and punched him in the stomach. He even winced in the light- used to darkness. The AC was on in here and Peter shook his head, gripping the table, reminding himself that he was home and that freezing water wouldn't be dumped over his head and trickle down his back-

"Peter. Peter!" Tony called.

Peter's head snapped back around, his hand shaking on the table.

"You're safe. I'm not letting anything happen to you, I promise," Tony said firmly. 

Peter nodded and Tony gave him a reassuring smile before his gaze moved to over Peter's shoulder. Peter jumped and Tony reached to put a hand on his arm.

"Hey, hey, hey, just the food Pete," Tony said.

Peter gave him a weak smile as the 2 cheeseburgers were set in front of them. Peter just stared at it and Tony nudged his foot after a minute, "Go at it kid, it won't bite."

Peter took a bite and grinned happily, before suddenly there was a shout from the other end of the cafeteria. 

"PETER? Where- PETER? Peter Parker, I need to find-"

Peter turned in his seat and almost sobbed in relief. "May?" he called in a shaky voice. His Aunt's head whipped around and her eyes found him. Tears were streaming down her face and she breathed a sigh of relief.

In a flash, Tony was up out of his seat, helping Peter stand and catching the tray that Peter accidentally shoved aside. 

May ran forward and hugged him and Peter cried out in pain, "Ribs. Ribs, yeah."

"Are you ok?" she cried, brushing hair from his face and kissing him on the cheek. 

"Yeah, I'm ok, just a little rough around the edges," Peter said, May too blinded by happiness to see the pain in her nephew's eyes. 

"I was so worried about you. Are you ok? I'm so glad you're back. You're skinnier. Take a shower. You're hurt-" May continued to ramble, cupping his cheeks and crying. Peter had some tears come to his eyes as well, his chest aching as he lied and said he was just fine and just happy to be home.

May hugged him again and Peter grit his teeth as to not let out a scream of pain. Tony, who Peter knew had been fully aware he was watching the BS show, winced for him. Peter gave him a forced smile of assurance. 

_Thank you,_ he mouthed. Tony smiled. 

Peter took a deep breath as he stepped over the tub and into the shower. Bruce had done what he could to quickly wipe up his face, hands, and arms when he fixed his shoulder. But other than that he had just changed out of the shirt he had been wearing and gotten new pants after Bruce sewed up the major cuts. 

Peter had peeled off his shirt, wincing as it pulled off and reopened scabs. His hands were shaking when he had, making it even worse. He didn't want to look in the mirror so he told himself he would after, in hopes that the shower would maybe make his appearance a little better. 

Peter stepped fully into the shower, holding onto the rail for support as his legs shook. His cast was wrapped with plastic wrap and rubber bands, tight around his skin. He reached for the knob and turned it, the water spraying out extremely cold. Peter whimpered in shock and horror, scrambling away to the other side of the tub.

_"Chilly Peter, very chilly," Stein mocked._

_"N-not t-to b-bad," Peter looked up from his arms. He must have been visibly shaking he was so cold, even to Stein who was halfway across the room. Peter was practically frozen; his lips were blue, his teeth chattering loudly, and his hair was almost frosted, his bangs clumped together. His breath was coming out shakily, created small clouds around him._

_"Come and sit in the chair Peter," Stein demanded._

_Peter tried to move his hand and winced tremendously, his bones nearly frozen. It hurt so much with just that simple movement. Peter hated being weak but he physically couldn't lift his finger. He grit his teeth and shook his head, whispering, "I-I c-c-can't m-m-move."_

Peter was breathing hard and he pressed his finger on an already bleeding cut on his arm, trying to make pain jolt him out of his fear.

He squeezed his eyes shut and whispered harshly to himself, pounding his fist on the white wall. "Focus Peter. Focus, come on..." He reached out with a shaking hand, just simple drops of water feeling like pounding cold on his arm. He winced and cried out, another flashback making his head spin with a piercing ring. 

_"Have a good night Peter."_

_"Night?" Peter rasped, "Y-you'll k-kill me."_

_"Oh don't worry. You won't die. You'll only wish you were dead." Stein had one more thing to do. He picked up the bucket of water that had been left by the door and walked over._

_Peter strained against his bonds, jerking to get as far away as possible, muttering, "N-no, no, wait-"_

_Stein poured the water slowly over his head, making sure his whole body was drenched, Peter arching his back as it trickled down his spine. He let out a cry of pain through gritted teeth, immediately shaking from the cold. Stein dumped the rest of the water on him and Peter breathed harshly through his nose, jerking in his bonds, clenching his fists._

"Come on," Peter grit his teeth, grabbing and cranking the knob to the hot side, but not before he had to duck his head under the falling water. He winced, his hair plastered to his face, freezing drops sliding down his spine. He gasped, spitting out water. 

_Peter awoke to a grip on his hair. He tried to blink but suddenly cold water splashed on his face, drenching his head and dripping down the front of his shirt. He cried out and jerked awake, straining against his bonds. The hand released the tight grip on his hair and Peter didn't have the energy to keep it up. It dropped to his chest and he grit his teeth, squinting his eyes shut and flicking his hair away from his face-_

The flashback stopped as soon as the water heated up and Peter leaned weakly against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief, physically and mentally exhausted from those last seconds that felt like hours. He forced his breathing to slow once he realized how fast it was. He looked down and Peter winced; the water was slowly turning red. 

When he got out of the shower, Peter shivered, wrapping his towel tighter around him. He got dressed, forgetting about his inner promise to look in the mirror until he reached for a T-shirt, stepping in the way of the glass. Peter dropped the shirt. 

He choked on a sob, gulping down air as he stared at his arms, face, and chest. He couldn't describe it. And the scars...that was the worst part. Peter reached up a shaking hand and touched his cheek, brushing one of his many cuts, just to make sure it was all real- all of it. Peter quickly put on his shirt a little to harshly, probably ripping some stitches, but he didn't care; anything to hide the unknown person staring back at him, a shell of the one he had been a week and a half ago. 

He looked down at his hands that were still tinted red, dried blood beneath his fingertips and he turned on the hot water in the sink and washed them, his fingers shaking with every wring of his hands. He took a deep breath, running his hands through his wet hair that was tangled but finally free of the dirt.

Peter grabbed one of his Stark Industries sweatshirt, because he was still freezing cold. Since the sweatshirt had always been too big for him, Peter had rolled up the sleeves, but he unrolled them now, eager to get warm, and hide his cuts and bruises. But what could hide the pain?

Tony was walking back to the lounge where Peter said he was going to meet him. The kid had wanted some time alone, which Tony respected and May helped him back to his room where she gave him his bag of clothes. They had decided Peter would stay at the compound for a while. When he was ready he could make up the week and a half of school he missed and Tony would personally see to it that the next couple weeks he was absent from were excused.

Of course his hopes of everything being ok were screwed over when Bruce came sprinting through the hallway, yelling his name.

"Tony! Tony, you have to see this," Bruce said, out of breath, his face wracked with nervousness. 

Tony turned to his friend, "What? Bruce, what's wrong?" 

"The serum. I found out what it is," Bruce said, miserably.

"That's supposed to be a good thing. We can use it to reverse the effects," Tony knit his eyebrows, grabbing Bruce's arm to keep him in place. 

"No, we can't. We're gonna have to let it run it's course. It can't be sped up," Bruce said miserably.

"How do you know that?" Tony asked.

"Come on," Bruce said, pulling him into the lab. He grabbed a cardboard box from the ground below the 3D board they had set up and dumped its contents on the nearest table. Tony ran a hand through the envelopes and paper clipped pictures.

"What's this?" he asked suspiciously.

Bruce handed him a file. "Back before you were Iron Man, when you still exposed Black Market buyers with Stark Industries, you helped S.H.I.E.L.D. compose a new type of interrogation serum to try and take down HYDRA. That's how they got so much info on the organization Tony. After the supposed fall of HYDRA though, S.H.I.E.L.D. banned it, for same reason as Napalm was banned: it was inhumane."

Tony's hands were shaking as he flipped through the pages. A massive, bolded word was stamped in the center of the page.

_**RECALLED** _

"I remember this," Tony said breathlessly. "Bruce, why are you telling me this?"

Bruce looked at Tony warily, wringing his hands, "Tony, it..." he rubbed his forehead and gestured with his glasses, "the serum makes you hallucinate. It shows you your worst fears."

Tony's throat closed up. Oh God... Then he shook his head, laughing with no humor. He gulped, "No. We banned it. I remember this. We haven't used it since..."

"HYDRA must have gotten their hands on some, or stolen some, or something. But they got to it before all production was stopped. Maybe they had a guy on the inside, maybe they made their own, I don't know Tony," Bruce said quietly.

"I don't know how they got it, but they did," Bruce said, "and turns out they've been using it. The last few samples have been traced to the park's underground base. They've been in the hands of Stein."

Tony looked up at Bruce, knowing exactly what he was going to say next and not wanting to believe it. But he knew it was true. He had heard proof.

_"Oh, and let's see what else...oh! How could I forget? That last temper tantrum you experienced?" Stein grinned widely, "Peter has had a record breaking 24 trials of hallucinations, 8 fears each. He's still not even 100% sure you're real."_

_Tony looked behind him at Peter who was punching his leg self consciously. He looked up at Tony with wide, fearful eyes._

_"Peter, do you want to tell him what you see?"_

"No," Tony said quietly, remembering Peter's gaze, and the way he was forced to explain every single one of his nightmares while Tony was held at gunpoint. And it was his fault? Tony licked his lips, stuttering, "It was made to help people...I don't understand how-"

Bruce took a breath, "They used it on Peter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? Hope you all liked it, sorry for the short wait. Stay tuned!! SO MUCH more to come! Leave your thoughts <3 :) Thanks for reading everyone


	9. It Never Goes Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyy sorry for the wait! If you havent read the last chapter because of my stupid mishap of only posting a paragraph, please do that XD  
> Anyway, this is a recovery chapter with 2 more kickers.  
> Thank you all for sticking with this! Enjoy the chapter <3

Tony was on the roof, looking out over the compound, trying to calm himself down. 

_"They used it on Peter..."_

Tony had rushed out of the lab on the brink of a panic attack and climbed the steps up to the roof, slamming the door shut, staggering a few feet before he sank against the nearest generator and put his head in his hands. This was all his fault. He watched the sun go down and Tony look a deep breath. It had been at least a half hour from when he had first gone up here and collapsed. 

Suddenly the door to the roof opened and Tony turned around. Peter stood in the doorway, shifting his weight between his feet. Tony looked at him and then found he couldn't anymore so he dropped his gaze to his feet, wracked with guilt. He heard Peter step onto the roof and softly shut the door. The boy limped over, using the generators for support and gently set himself down beside Tony. 

"Tony, what are you doing up here?"

Tony finally built up the courage to speak to him, "Peter, I- I have to tell you-"

"I already know."

"You- you know...you know?" Tony stuttered, knitting his eyebrows.

Tony turned to look at Peter who nodded, "I know. The serum."

"Why- why do you even want to be next to me? Why are you even talking to me? I...it was my fault Peter," Tony said with a broken voice. 

Peter shook his head, laughing almost, "No. Tony, it's not your fault. None of this was. You got me out of there."

"The things they did to you Peter," Tony shook his head. 

"Wasn't your fault," Peter finished firmly. "Tony, while I was in there, all I thought about was getting back here. You coming to get me, to get me out of that...place," Peter looked down, smiling with no happiness. "When I was at the point of breaking, I thought...I thought of you, what you would do, what you would say-"

"Well that got you nowhere," Tony gave a weak smile.

"True," Peter admitted. "Felt good to make them mad though."

Tony laughed.

"Point is," Peter said quietly, "is that I never lost faith in you. You were what kept me going. I knew you were going to get me out of there, I knew you were looking for me, probably not sleeping or eating..." Peter shot him a look and Tony bit his lip guiltily, "but the whole time, with every punch I took, every session I went through, the only person I blamed was myself."

Tony recoiled, "Yourself- Peter, what-"

"I should have told you where I was going, I shouldn't have been so naive. So i went and got myself captured. Then I ran my mouth and earned a beating every time, and every time I didn't learn. Do you want me to go back further? How about when I practically convinced Cap to take the deal? Did he tell you that? Because I did."

"Peter," Tony said weakly.

Peter shook his head, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes filling with heated tears as he spoke through gritted teeth, "I told him to take it. I was stupid, I practically turned myself in."

"Peter-" Tony said firmly, but there was no stopping him.

Peter was shaking, his eyes set on the ground, "And then I didn't tell you because I wanted to do something on my own, I wanted to be better, I wanted to...I was reckless and I walked right into it like an idiot. Heck, I deserved every minute-"

"Peter stop!" Tony yelled, grabbing the kid's shoulder, turning him roughly. Peter was shocked by Tony's outburst and even more shocked when he realized Tony wasn't done.

"Zip it Parker! I don't want you ever blaming yourself for anything, do you understand me?" Tony said firmly. "I should have been taking care of you. I should have seen this coming. I should have been there for you, but instead I let you fall right into the hands of that psychopath and he tortured you with some stupid experiment that I made. You were in there for a week and a half because I couldn't find you. A week and a half, Peter! Knowing that you were in pain, knowing that you were scared, and alone..." Tony leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and clasping his shaking hands under his chin.

"Knowing it was all because I couldn't look after the one person I promised myself I would protect," Tony trailed off quietly and found his next words held down by a sob. He composed himself and rubbed a hand over his face again. "Kid, if you had told me a year ago that I would be here, on this roof, tearing up at the thought of almost losing you, I would have told you you were crazy. But, here we are."

Tony clenched his shaking hands, "I was scared Peter. I tried so hard to not get attached," Tony laughed, shaking his head, "but I couldn't do it. You're a brilliant kid Peter. And I kick myself every day for putting you in danger. People who get close to me, they get hurt. They always get hurt."

"I don't care," Peter said quietly. 

"I do," Tony said, looking over at him, "I didn't want that to happen to you, and it did. It will continue to happen. And do you know why? Because I'm selfish. Because I can't stand the thought of losing you."

Peter stayed quiet. The cold wind blew and the moon appeared and disappeared behind the dark clouds. Peter and Tony sat there in silence, looking over at the compound before Tony recognized the boy's slight shaking.

He nudged Peter and nodded toward the door, "Let's go inside, you're shivering."

"I'm ok," Peter protested. 

"No, you're not," Tony sighed, helping Peter to his feet and slinging his arm around him to both support him as he limped and to hold him. They made their way back inside without saying a word and walked the whole compound, Tony muttering encouragement every so often to keep the kid on his feet. Tony helped him all the way to his room. 

"You gonna be ok?" Tony asked, not knowing what else to do. He clapped Peter on his good shoulder. 

Peter nodded, turning the lamp on at his desk, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Pain level?" Tony winced. 

Peter shrugged, "4."

"Liar," Tony said immediately. 

"How-" Peter gasped in mockery. 

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Because I know you. 'Band practice'? 'Hacking my suit'? Remember any of that?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Peter grinned.

Tony waved him off, "Yeah, whatever Parker. Are you gonna be ok? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I promise," Peter assured him. 

"Ok," Tony said, walking to the door.

"Thanks, Tony," Peter said, giving him a weak smile. 

Tony nodded, "Anytime kid- oh that reminds me," he dug in his pocket and pulled out a folded picture. "Here. Long story short, Cap had it, then I stole it back and kind of kept it, but it belongs to you, so...here."

He handed Peter the photograph and the boy unfolded it and smiled at the picture of the 2 of them in their suits. Peter limped to his pin board and tacked it up in the center. Tony looked at it and smiled. He looked back at Peter who gave him a weak grin. 

Tony looked at the kid, and then before he decided otherwise, glanced at the doorway, making sure no one was there, and then spoke roughly, "Come here." 

In one stride he wrapped his arms around the kid who had crumpled into his chest, resting his chin on Peter's head, trying to keep his breathing steady. It was such a relief to have him back, here, where Tony had a second chance to protect him, and make sure anyone who touches his kid pays for it. Peter held him tightly and Tony let him but didn't hold back as hard, afraid to hold him to the point where he hurt his ribs.

He ruffled Peter's hair fondly and then they pulled away. 

"You sure you took a shower?" Tony teased. 

"Shut up," Peter laughed slightly, rubbing his nose.

"Alright kid, go to bed or I'll switch out all your webs with silly string," Tony said, giving him a wink and closing the door. 

_Water splashed down his back. Peter shivered._

_"I will break your wrist."_

_SNAP._

Peter sucked in a breath, kicking his legs, tangling them in his sheets. 

_"Benjamin. That was your uncle's name, correct?"_

His fingers curled around the fabric until his knuckles turned white. 

_"We're going to have a lot of fun Peter."_

_Darkness._

_Silence._

_Pain._

"No," murmured, "no please-"

The flashbacks slammed into his mind. All 8 of them over and over and over again, played like a sped up disk, a broken record.

Peter kicked out, whimpering, thrashing around in his bed, but suddenly straps held him down and the pain of electricity woke him up.

_"Hit him."_

_"Again."_

He was still in his room, but Peter realized with a chocked gasp that his wrists and ankles were strapped down along the bed, and there was a gag in his mouth. Stein walked in, grinning and Peter let out a whimper, struggling to get away. Stein stopped right by his bedside and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

_"You thought you could run from me, Peter?"_

Peter bolted straight up with a strangled cry. Breathing hard he kicked at the sheets confining his legs and fell off the bed, landing on the floor in a shaking heap. He crawled away to the opposite wall and curled up in the corner, bringing his knees to his chest like he had been so used to doing. He stayed there for a long time, until his mind started to play tricks on him and Peter started to get cold, the room started to get darker, and-

He winced, the position bringing back the horrors of that place, how he would tighten his grip on himself whenever Stein walked in. Peter shivered consciously and ran a shaky hand over his face, angrily wiping at the wet spots. 

_"What are you going to do to me?"_

_"What I should have done a long time ago."_

"It's not real," Peter whispered harshly. 

_"All you are is a disappointment. You're nothing Peter Parker. You're useless."_

"Screw you," Peter growled, clasping his hands over his ears and gritting his teeth, a few tears sliding out of his eyes that were shut tight in fear.

The voice faded, his ears ringing. There was still a faint beeping sound, every 7 seconds, carved into his brain. Peter's stomach grumbled and he slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the thought that Stein would be standing over him. He wasn't. It was just Peter's empty room.

He winced as he slowly got to his feet, stumbling every once in a while at the nightmares that refused to leave him even as he was awake. Peter squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the lamp he had left on, afraid to be left in the dark again. When his breathing steadied he limped to the door and quietly opened it. 

Using the wall for support he made his way down the hallway, wincing in pain with every step. His knee buckled and he had to catch himself on a near by door handle, sending spiking pain up his shoulder.

Peter gasped in pain and turned, stumbling back into the wall as Stein plunged the knife into his shoulder all the way to the hilt. Peter gasped out in pain and sank to the floor, grasping the floor, his fingers trembling. Stein pulled the knife out Peter choked, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them wide, closing his right hand into a fist, his whole body shaking. 

"It's not real," Peter whispered.

_"It's very real."_

Peter grit his teeth, "It's not...real..."

He swore his lip was bleeding from how hard he was biting it, but that had done the trick. Peter took a deep breath. Holding back a cry of pain as to not wake anyone up he got to his feet and steadied himself. Peter waited until his vision focused and the ringing grew bearable in his ears before he continued limping to the kitchen. Applauding himself for getting that far, he turned the corner and froze. 

The light was on in the dining room, the coffee machine turned on, the pitcher on the counter steaming. Peter peaked into the dining room carefully, stepping over the one spot in the floor that would creak. Sure enough, just like last time, Steve was sitting there in the same spot and same position, with his head in his hands, a seemingly untouched cup of coffee lying to his right.

He hadn't seen Peter yet and he debated whether or not to go in. Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before he stepped into the room. 

Steve's head snapped up and his tired expression immediately switched to shock, fear, guilt, and worry. 

"Peter-" he said, almost spilling his cup of coffee as he jumped out of his seat and backed away. 

Peter didn't know what to say. So he didn't say anything. 

Steve watched him carefully, before he made his way around the table, "i can- go-"

"No," Peter found his voice and he shook his head, taking a seat in the same place he had a week and a half ago. 

Steve remained standing until Peter looked up at him and gave him a small smile, "we've got to talk sometime."

Steve cautiously took the seat across from him and Peter had a weird feeling of deja vu. 

There was silence for a good 3 minutes. 

Then Steve looked up, "Peter I- I'm so sorry."

"I don't blame you for what you did. Heck, I practically told you to do it," Peter laughed softly. 

_"Other people may not always understand how it feels to lose someone until it happens to them but..." Peter trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "People who care about one another do crazy, dangerous, and sometimes bad things for the people they love. But that doesn't make them the bad guy Steve."_

"It wasn't your fault," Steve said immediately. "It was all mine. If I had known it was you I obviously wouldn't have done it. I was just..." He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry."

Peter swallowed bile, and faked a small smile, "Yeah..." Then he shifted awkwardly in his position, "So what did you tell them, when you got back?"

Cap gulped, "I went back to the compound, already trying to figure out a way to get you back and your Aunt called me. I pulled up a voicemail from you and then asked FRIDAY to run some audio from the mission and, what do you know, they matched. So I went into your room on a hunch and found a web shooter and that picture of you and Tony and I- I broke. I was disgusted with what I had done."

"Save the sob story," Peter snapped, only half joking. 

Steve raised an eyebrow in amusement, but did what Peter asked. "Tony had found out on his own. Between your Aunt, your friend Ned, and your tracker at the alley, he figured it out."

"Ned," Peter laughed, shaking his head.

Steve continued, wringing his hands, "I ran into Tony walking down the hallway, he burst through the wall from outside-"

"So that's what that hole was," Peter nodded.

Steve raised an eyebrow, his gaze changing to that of fear, "when he saw me with your mask...well he kind of lost it too. Almost killed me."

"Is that what the black eye is from?" Peter guessed. 

Steve nodded, "I've healed, mostly."

"You deserved it," Peter shrugged. 

"Yeah," Steve said, not surprised by Peter's boldness. "Yeah, I did."

"I don't really know what else to say," Steve admitted. "Look, I know you're probably never going to trust me again. I don't expect you to, and I don't expect you to want to be around me, or respect me, or ever talk to me again-" Cap looked up and locked eyes with Peter, sighing in relief. "I can live with that. I'm just glad you're back. And Peter, I am sorry."

Peter swallowed and nodded uncomfortably, "Yeah. I don't plan on going on any secret missions to old warehouses with you anymore."

Cap laughed slightly, looking down and nodding, "Yeah, understood."

"I'm gonna-" Peter pointed to the kitchen. 

Steve nodded vigorously, as eager to get out of this conversation as Peter was. "Yeah, yeah, do you need help?"

"No," Peter shook his head, "I'm fine. Thanks...though."

"Yeah," Steve said, mustering the best smile he could and offering it to Peter, but he could tell it was wracked and weighed down with guilt.

"Ok," Peter said awkwardly, giving him an uncomfortable smile in return, turning around and limping into the kitchen. 

"Peter?" Steve called. 

Peter looked over his shoulder, grabbing a bag of Doritos. 

"I'm sorry."

Peter gave him a weak real smile and nodded. Then he walked out of the kitchen. 

Tony was in the lab the next morning, typing on his computer. He had been trying to clean up the whole HYDRA mess since yesterday, recovering files and making copies of them on his database before deleting them and using camera footage to locate other members that hadn't been at the base when they blew it up. He sent most of teh copied files to Ross...most of them.

With Ross' help he had pinned the massive explosion on a gas leak and got a friend with connections to announce the shutdown of the supposed 'company' that caused the rupture. Tony himself stepped in to pay for the damages and supply them with a new company to run the place, Stark Industries. 

"Is Peter awake yet?" Tony asked FRIDAY. FRIDAY pulled up the hallway monitor and Tony's eyes glanced to Peter's door which was still shut tight. He hadn't seen any movement from it. 

_"Doesn't seem so sir,"_ FRIDAY reported. 

Good. He wanted that kid to sleep-

"Amateur system. I hacked in 4 minutes."

Tony whirled in his chair and Peter limped into the room, grinning. Tony had to grin back, amused and thrilled to see the kid smile again. 

"Are you kidding me?" Tony asked. 

Peter grinned and walked over the the screen displaying the hallway. His fingers flew across the keyboard and Tony watched as the clock glitched and revealed it had been running on a 6 second loop for the past couple hours. Peter grinned.

Tony shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck, "So-"

"I talked to Cap last night," Peter said.

Tony straightened and he turned in his chair to face Peter, a little shocked. "Oh. O-Okay. And..."

"He apologized. Explained what happened. Said you beat him up," Peter said plainly, a smirk nearing the edge of his mouth, while he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. 

"I did," Tony crossed his arms. 

Peter shrugged, "he deserved it."

"Darn right," Tony nodded. 

"We're not good," Peter assured him and Tony nodded in approval. The boy wrung his hands, "but we needed to talk eventually."

"When was this?" Tony asked. 

"Last night," Peter admitted. 

"Why weren't you asleep?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

Peter bit his lip, "I- I couldn't sleep, I'm still getting used to the nightmares."

Tony nodded in understanding and locked eyes with Peter giving him an encouraging smile, "Ok." He spun around once in his chair and stopped in front of Peter again, putting his hands out, "And you're ok? He just apologized?"

"Yeah, I just thought I should tell you," Peter nodded firmly. 

Tony gave him a weak smile, "Yeah kid." In desperate need to change the subject he clasped his hands, "So. 10 oclock. Breakfast? I'll be down in a second?"

Peter smiled, "Sure. I think Nat's making eggs, I'll go bother her."

"Alright kid," Tony grinned, before he pointed at the screen as Peter walked out, "And don't mess with my stuff!"

"Don't make it messable," Peter called back. 

"That's not a word- whatever- skedaddle young buck," Tony grinned, waving the kid out his lab. "Sheesh."

_"Sir, a new folder popped up. It's blocked by 6 firewalls, would you like me to disable them."_

Tony turned back to his computer and typed in a password, "Go for it FRIDAY." He leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes, flicking a pencil in between his hands. "What are you hiding..."

_"It seems to be security camera footage."_

Tony double clicked on the first folder and scrolled through thousands of videos. "What the..."

He scrolled up, his eyes scanning the page and found the search bar, moving the mouse. "FRIDAY I'm searching up Peter, you give me everything there is on him. I'm gonna delete it all."

_"Just a second."_

Tony typed in **Peter B. Parker** and clicked enter. 12 folders popped up. Tony hovered over the delete button and then he cursed and clicked into the first folder. 

_"You should be scared. Very scared. I will ruin you. I will break you."_

Tony's fist curled as he saw Stein, raising Peter's chin with a knife. 

_"You can try," Peter snarled._

Peter was cuffed to the chair with special metal bindings, a gag limp around his neck, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He had a black eye and a cut on his cheek. There was a massive cut on the meat of his right shoulder... probably from where they had dug out his tracker. Tony's hand was shaking and he curled it in a fist.

_Stein nodded, smiling at him and he flicked the knife up, cutting his chin. Peter flinched and breathed hard through his nose, flicking sweaty hair out of his face. Stein, twistedly pleased with this result walked around behind Peter who tensed as he put his hands on his shoulders and leaned down to his ear._

"Get away from him," Tony growled. 

_"Everyone can be broken. Even the unbreakable ones," he whispered._

_"Screw you," Peter whispered back._

Tony clicked out of the video, anger filling his chest. He clicked on the next one. 

Stein was standing there his arms crossed, in a room with other agents stationed at computers. 

_"Commander Stein, the prisoner's vitals have dropped again," his lieutenant called._

_Stein set down the phone and walked over. The footage switched back to security cam footage showing Peter huddled in the corner, in a tight ball, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered._

_"What's the current temperature?" Stein asked in the background._

_"0 degrees sir," the man reported._

"Zero de-" Tony choked. "FRIDAY, how- how low did it-"

FRIDAY didn't answer but another video clip played. 

_Stein was in the room with Peter and he called to the team on the other side of the camera, "Crank the temperature to -15 degrees Farenheight."_

Tony blanched, "Oh God."

_Peter's face showed pure fear before he forced a grin, "F-freeze me again? That's y-your play? You g-guys have no i-imagination."_

_Stein smiled back, gripping Peter's chin and forcing him to look at him, "I'm just getting started." He punched the boy across the face and then in the stomach. Peter doubled over in pain, coughing._

Tony gripped the sides of his chair hard, trembling, his gaze pure fury.

_"Have a good night Peter."_

"No..." Tony gasped. 

_"Night?" Peter rasped, "Y-you'll k-kill me."_

_"Oh don't worry. You won't die. You'll only wish you were dead."_

Tony thought that would be it, that it couldn't get worse.

_Stein picked up the bucket of water that had been left by the door and walked over._

_Peter strained against his bonds, jerking to get as far away as possible, muttering, "N-no, no, wait-"_

_Stein poured the water slowly over Peter's head, making sure his whole body was drenched. Peter arched his back as it trickled down his spine and let out a cry of pain through gritted teeth, immediately shaking from the cold. Stein dumped the rest of the water on him and Peter breathed harshly through his nose, jerking in his bonds, clenching his fists._

_"S-screw you," Peter said harshly, flicking wet hair out of his face._

Tony slammed his fist into the table, running a hand through his hair. 

He watched Stein taunt him, tell him that he was worthless. 

He watched him break Peter's wrist. 

He watched Stein...

_"Are you having fun yet?" Peter made out harshly, glaring at Stein who's face was pure rage._

_Then Peter tensed. Stein snarled, pulling the knife away from Peter's arm that he had been cutting into._

Tony barely had time to breath one sigh of relief before Stein plunged the knife into Peter's shoulder. And when that happened, he screamed with his kid.

_A scream tore away from his lips and Peter gasped, his mouth opening and closing. He choked, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them wide, closing his right hand into a fist, his whole body shaking._

_"You have no idea what this organization is capable of," Stein whispered in Peter's ear, cupping the back of his head with his hand, still pushing the knife in his shoulder with the other._

_Stein pulled the knife out and blood spilled down Peter's shirt, covering his shoulder, sticky and wet. Peter gasped again, choking out a cry of pain, shoving his head back and yanking on his bonds. He was swaying, his gaze unfocused._

Tony shook his head and clicked out of it, almost falling out of his chair and onto the floor. His head was spinning, he was breathing hard, shaking in anger and horror. 

"Oh God..." he choked out. 

_"They got down to -46 degrees Tony. -50 for small periods of time. They...they made sure he didn't die,"_ FRIDAY reported, sounding disgusted herself. 

"Oh God," Tony said again, feeling like he was about to throw up. The room was spinning and his head was pounding. Peter's scream echoed in his ears as the knife plunged ruthlessly into his shoulder.

 _"It has every second of every day documented. His vitals, the security camera footage. The trials."_ FRIDAY paused. _"Sir, should I delete these? The things he saw...they made him see-"_

"Delete it. Delete all of it. Their server and ours," Tony said weakly, not able to raise his head. 

FRIDAY paused and the screen blanked out. Tony took a shaky breath. 

_"It's done,"_ FRIDAY reported. 

"Is it though?" Tony said quietly. "Oh God...Peter..."

Peter was getting worried. Tony had said a couple minutes and still wasn't back. 

"Hey Nat, I'm gonna get Tony ok?"

"Ok kid. Breakfast in 3 minutes," she called, catching the salt from Clint who chucked it at her. 

Peter slid slowly off the chair and limped down the hallway, making it 6 proud steps before he had to use the wall again. He was getting there...right? He turned the corner into Tony's lab and froze. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and Peter sprinted. He sprinted to get to Tony who was on the floor with head in his hands. Peter stumbled, his leg giving out right when he got to his side, collapsing and grabbing Tony's shoulders, not caring about the huge amount of pain he was in. 

"Tony! Tony?"

"I'm fine kid," Tony said, leaning against the table and taking a deep breath.

"What- what's wrong?" Peter asked urgently. 

Tony looked up weakly, ruffling Peter's hair sadly, his eyes wide and bloodshot. His whole body was shaking. "I saw what they did to you. FRIDAY found the security tapes. I couldn't even watch the first 2 days Peter. I-"

"Oh," Peter's face went slack with fear and he looked up at the computer, still holding onto Tony's shoulder. 

"I- I deleted it kid. I deleted it all," Tony assured him. "I'm so sorry Peter."

"Don't," Peter said firmly, shaking his head and pursing his lips. "Don't."

"I know what you're going through you know," Tony said softly after a minute of silence.

Peter looked up, "You- you do?"

"When I was kidnapped for a couple months by terrorists I went through some of the same stuff you did. It changed me. And I still have nightmares. And then New York..." Tony shuddered, "still gives me panic attacks every once in a while."

"You get panic attacks?" Peter asked. He did too. He never thought Tony did though...

"All the time," Tony smiled weakly. 

"Why haven't I known?" Peter asked in shock. 

"Because I haven't told you. You didn't need to know. I wanted to protect you from that," Tony admitted. 

"Oh," Peter said, instances flashing in his mind revealing how he was so stupid to not notice it before. 

"Does it go away?" Peter said softly and Tony immediately composed himself, sensing Peter was the one who needed help. He straightened and gripped Peter's shoulders, looking him right in the eyes. Peter knew the truth would be painful as Tony slowly shook his head, "No Pete. It doesn't. But it gets easier. It gets better."

"Easier to live with it, or easier to hide it?" Peter asked, and he smiled weakly. 

Tony's gaze was so painful, like he hated watching Peter go through this. He bit his lip and that was an answer in itself. 

Peter nodded at him determinedly, "I can handle it."

Tony smiled, giving him a wink, "I know you can. You'll get stronger. And you'll be back to doing backflips in no time."

Peter nodded. 

Tony took a deep breath, putting on a smile for Peter to cheer him up, which it did, even though Peter knew it was hiding a lot of pain. Tony's gaze flicked to the bandage on Peter's arm and then flicked back to his face. 

"Let's go. Nat probably burned the eggs," Tony joked. 

Peter grinned and helped Tony to his feet. Tony ruffled his hair and put an arm around him. 

"I'm proud of you Peter," Tony said, pride shining in his eyes. 

Peter grinned as they walked out of the lab, helping one another with each step.

_"It gets better."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? Leave your thoughts <3  
> Get ready for a little more action in the next one that I'm sooooo hyped to write, and then we'll wind down :(  
> Stay tuned!!! Hope you liked it <3 sorry it's a little short, free time has been thinned lately lol


	10. "Hiking"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter just doesn't stop does he?  
> Well I wrote some kickbutt Peter scenes in this one and some Karen and Peter- which Idk, i rly liked their friendship even tho she's an A.I. Hopefully he gets closure, and hopefully May doesn't kill both of them.  
> Winding down soon guys :( Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!

Peter kicked out his legs. He was shaking, kicking his legs in his bed. His heartbeat pounded in his ears and Peter punched out, catching the headboard of his bed. The pain in his knuckles woke him up and his eyes shot open. He bolted up with a cry, breathing hard, clutching his hand to his chest, just as the door opened. 

"Tony," Peter said in relief, then his grin faded. 

"Pete-" Tony coughed up blood, sinking to his knees and then falling face down on the floor, his eyes staring at Peter as they glossed over. Peter cried out, scrambling up in disbelief, hitting his head on the top bunk. 

"No- no! Tony-" Peter blinked and threw himself off the bed, tumbling to the floor. Instead of carpeted ground, he was met by wet grass and Peter got to his feet, staggering forward, scraping his knee on a gravestone. He tripped and fell, looking up at May's name in horror. Then he cowered in the shadow of Tony's, his limbs locking up as he curled in on himself, bringing his legs to his chest and tucking his head to his chest. 

Peter covered his head, squeezing his eyes shut and concentrating, trying to wake himself up. He gasped for air as his throat and chest tightened when suddenly he felt something on his leg. Peter looked up from his arms and thrashed, scrambling away from the massive spider that dropped to the ground. Then tiny spiders started crawling from the cracks in the tombstones, until they took over the whole ground- no they _were_ the ground. Peter's eyes went wide and he panicked and flailed, trying to get away from the sea of black he had been swallowed into, swatting and writhing on the ground as they covered him. 

Peter kicked and twisted, landing on his stomach. He almost threw up, his upper half hanging over the edge of a bridge, his arm out, holding a web, and on the end of it was- The web snapped and Peter cried out, shooting another web and missing the boy that tumbled into the ocean. Peter watched in disbelief, horror sinking in and he cried out harshly. His head fell to his chest and Peter went limp. 

He looked up and found himself in the isle of a store, dropping the eggs he had in his hands and rushing outside. A gunshot sounded and Peter flinched, running toward the sound and diving to his knees by Uncle Ben's side. Peter had a huge headache; everything was fuzzy, but that didn't make the blood on his hands harder to see.

Peter looked up in tears just as the shield came slamming into his forehead, knocking him on his back, unconscious. 

Peter woke up to a sound of the Iron Man repulsor being charged and blinked, finding himself right in the path of Tony's glowing palm. He yelled and rolled to the side, the wall to his right exploding. Peter barely had time to look up before the ceiling caved in.

Just like always, Tony walked away, leaving Peter to struggle underneath the rubble, hyperventilating before he finally let out a scream, breathing hard, his eyes shooting open. 

Stein was smiling at him, shoving a knife in his shoulder and Peter's gaze crumpled into pain, his eyes wide, his mouth open in shock, trying to breath. Peter's head dropped, dizzy and exhausted and Stein grabbed his hair, yanking his head up. 

"You thought you could run from me Peter?"

Stein was gone and Peter was suddenly in the corner, freezing cold, his lips blue, his teeth chattering, barely able to lift his finger. 

"I will always be inside your head. Every time you close your eyes."

Stein dumped the bucket of water on him and Peter grit his teeth to stop from screaming. 

"Hit him."

The straps dug into his wrists. The IV pinched his skin. Peter groaned, barely able to breath with the gag in his mouth.

"Again."

"My name is Peter B. Parker. I'm 16 years old and I'm Spiderman. I'm an Avenger. I have an Aunt named May. And Tony Stark is like a father to me."

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, electricity coursing through his veins. He arched his back, his body spazzing with every jolt. 

"My name is...I don't remember."

Stein grinned, "You thought you could run from me Peter?"

Peter bolted straight up, kicking off his covers and moving to the very corner of his bed, pressing his back against the wall and putting his head in his arms. He was shaking, covered in cold sweat, his old injuries throbbing as some sort of twisted act of nostalgia. Peter rubbed his shoulder, gritting his teeth in pain. Tears slid down his cheeks and Peter tried to steady his breathing. 

He rubbed his head with both hands before he shoved it harshly against the wall, thankful for some sharp pain that made his senses snap back. Peter curled his arms tighter than himself, pressing his lips firmly together and breathing harshly. He pulled the blanket up to his chin and stayed like that for the rest of the night, not sleeping. 

He thought it would get easier. 

"Try it again Peter," Rhodey encouraged him. Tony gave him an encouraging nod. 

Peter took a deep breath, biting back pain. He pushed off against the wall and started jogging, picking up his pace until he was sprinting with only a light limp. Peter grit his teeth and took a running leap. Peter threw himself into a flip, tucking his legs in to his chest and then shooting a web, thrusting his arm up. The web latched on and Peter's shoulder jerked. He cried out and flailed, losing his grip on the web. 

Peter screamed and fell, tumbling to the ground. He lay on his back, breathing hard.

"Peter!"

Peter winced in pain, blinking back tears and turned over on his side, shaking his head, "I- I can't do it."

Tony ran over to his side, "You ok, kid?"

"I'm fine," Peter seethed.

Rhodey pursed his lips, "Peter, it's not gonna come easily-"

"Easily?" Peter yelled, pushing Tony's hand away. Struggling to get to his feet by himself and gritting his teeth in pain, Peter clasped a hand over his bad shoulder and swayed, trying to stay upright. Tears filled his eyes.

"It's been a week and I still can't-" Peter grit his teeth and turned, jogged a little bit to get momentum before he forced himself into a flip, crumpling halfway, unable to turn all the way around. He landed awkwardly, his knee giving out and crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain.

He slammed his fist on the mat. "I can't-"

"Peter stop. We're done here, let's go," Tony said, grabbing his good arm and helping him to his feet before Peter could shove him off. 

Peter yanked his arm from Tony's grasp and shook his head, "No- I have to-"

"Peter, I said you're done!" Tony said firmly, daring Peter to challenge him. 

Peter's eyes filled with tears and he bit his lip hard, curling his hands into fists before he limped toward the door. 

"Pete-" Tony started after him. 

"Leave him Tony," Rhodey said, putting a hand on Tony's chest. "Maybe try going a little easier on him?"

"Easier? The kid's gonna kill himself!" Tony exclaimed. 

"He used to do triple backflips for the fun of it. Now he can barely swing on a web!" Rhodey protested. 

"It's only been 6 days! Of course it's not going to go back to normal," Tony said running a hand through his hair. 

"Tony, when I was paralyzed and you put me in that brace, I wanted to kill you" Rhodey said suddenly. 

Tony raised his eyebrows, turning to face his friend, "Wow, thanks Rhodes. Touching. Glad you got that off your chest."

"I did. Tony I had been moving all my life, sprinting while I was in the military and then flying and fighting as War Machine. I know what Peter's going through and trust me, it isn't fun. The kid was stuck in a chair for almost a week and a half. The first thing he wants to do is move. And to find out he can't? To not be physically able to do all of his old tricks? The kid swings from buildings for gosh sakes, and now he can't even do a simple backflip? How do you think he feels Tony?" Rhodey asked.

Tony crossed his arms, "Is that a rhetorical question, or-"

Rhodes cut him off, "Because I know how he feels. Broken. Just like I did."

Tony nodded slowly, "So I should just let him...do his thing?"

"Now if he tries to swing from buildings any time soon, ground him, by all means. But cut him some slack. The kid copies you. He's not the only one hard on himself. You two butt heads because you're carbon copies of one another. Both stubborn as heck," Rhodey swore, shaking his head and walking to the door. 

Tony smirked, raising his eyebrow. Then he called after Rhodes, "Did you really want to kill me?"

"100 percent. I hated that brace," Rhodey shuddered. 

Tony grinned. 

Peter threw his web shooter in the drawer angrily and changed out of his suit, wincing as he peeled the fabric off around his shoulder. He lifted up th ebandage and saw the wound and cursed under his breath. He slowly lifted his arm as far as he could and on cue the searing pain almost made him cry out. He bit his lip and lowered his arm, punching himself in the thigh.

Peter grabbed onto the chair for support, his vision going blurry, his ears ringing. His breathing sped up and the temperature seemed to drop 10 degrees. Peter grabbed a sweatshirt and shoved it on, gentle around his shoulder. He always had one nearby. It seemed that since what Stein did to him, Peter was always cold. He shivered and winced as flashbacks threatened to take over his reality. Peter held them back, for now. 

Weakly, he crawled into bed. He hadn't slept more than an hour a night, but he didn't tell Tony that. He heard Tony's voice down the hallway and Peter's face crumpled, not wanting the 'you can do it' talk again. He pulled a blanket over himself and turned away from the door. 

"Peter I-"

Peter closed his eyes when the door opened. Tony stopped mid sentence. There was a second of silence and then Tony shut the door. Peter looked up. 

Then there was another voice. Natasha. 

"How is he?"

"He's...me," Tony said. Peter had to smile at that, bringing the blanket up under his chin. "He's stubborn. Determined. He's pushing himself."

"And you don't want him to?" Nat asked. 

Peter listened carefully. 

"I want him to be safe," Tony said softly. "Ever since he's got back...I can't let him get hurt. Not again. I can't have that happen."

"He's learning Tony, he knows his boundaries."

"Does he?" Tony asked and Peter frowned. 

"You're sounding like his dad," Nat said. Peter frown lessened. 

"You know what Romanoff? I could fire you," Tony threatened. 

The two exchanged a laugh and then their voices faded. Peter bolted up in bed, hitting his head on the top bunk and cursing. He scrambled out of his sheets and grabbed his suit on the floor, turning it over to expose the chest. 

"Droney!" Peter said urgently, "follow them."

The spider rose up from the suit and gave a happy beep noise before it dissapeared under his door and Peter shoved on his mask. 

"Karen? Give me audio and visual," Peter said. 

_"Just a second,"_ Karen said, and Peter could have sworn she was smirking. 

_"Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt Nat. And I know that's just part of this job, but I don't know, I guess I just wished that Peter would be the exception. But he was far from that," Tony said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he and Nat walked down the hallway. Tony shrugged, "I think that's one of the reasons I never thought about having a family- having kids I mean."_

_"Because you'd put them in danger?" Nat asked, tucking a strand of her ginger hair back in her braid._

_"Because I've already got a kid," Tony admitted. "He's the closest thing I've got to a son."_

Peter straightened and he smiled slightly, his eyes bright inside the mask. He blinked. 

Karen gave a small cough; she had become more human since Peter had rerouted her programming and Peter suppressed a grin, "Shut up Karen."

 _"I didn't say anything,"_ Karen said. 

_"And what did I do? I let him get hurt," Tony said, shoving his finger in the center of his chest. "On my watch."_

_"You can't protect everyone Tony," Nat said quietly._

_Tony shook his head, "Not everyone. One. One person, one innocent, wide eyed, 16 year old kid who didn't deserve any of this-" Tony trailed off. "He told me once that he wanted to be like me. And I told him I wanted him to be better, because I did. I'm flawed, I screw up, I fail, I'm about the worst role model ever, but this kid, that teenager in that red and blue onesie-"_

"It's not a onesie," Peter grumbles to himself. 

_"-he sees a guy in me that I just don't see. And I don't know why, but he does. I don't want to fail him."_

"You don't fail me," Peter whispered. 

_Nat laughed, "You could never even convince that kid you made a mistake. Are you kidding me, Tony?."_

_"Except when he's mad at me," Tony smiled._

_"True," Nat laughed._

_Tony shook his head, "What can I say? He's a good kid."_

"Droney, that's good," Peter smiled. The audio and video shut off and a minute later the drone slipped back under his door. Peter took off his mask, pushing his hair back. He gave the drone a thumbs up and it settled back in to the middle of the suit with a satisfying 'click'.

"No, I don't- Ross they're all halfway across the world!" Tony exclaimed, holding up his prototype Iron Man gauntlet. The Avengers were not at the compound, except for Tony, who had to stay to make sure Ross didn't go cry to the president. The rest were split up around the world for this week, and of course, this was the week that Ross needed a team to go back to the HYDRA base they had blown up and recover a certain piece of technology that had possibly survived the explosion. 

"Your timing is incomprehensibly messed up," Tony sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He aimed the gauntlet and let a blast rip, exploding the dummy on the other side of the room. Tony whistled and then snapped back to the phone, "Yes, yes I am listening to this intriguing banter we are having and yes I would like an apology for dealing with- ok then maybe a nice card too?"

Tony shook off the glove and grabbed a screwdriver, waving it around threateningly, "I have a company to run. Get a group of guys and go get it yourself!"

He paused and then rolled his eyes, "Yeah well I be darned- Nancy Drew, good job at that one. Genius, really - of course I'm making fun of you."

Tony punched his fist in the air, "God Ross, you don't need to know calculus to solve 2+2! You're making this harder than it needs to be."

He blasted the trashcan over in frustration, "Yeah that was the sound of my patience dying. No, I literally blew up a trash can because I'm so close to blowing up this phone. Not making me do anything? That's not true- when I go tot sleep you make me rethink my life. Keeps me away all night-"

Tony suppressed a giggle as Ross raised his voice and he quickly spoke, "Calm down, that was funny."

"You going to have to get used to me patronizing you Ross, it comes with the Avengers package. Unless you don't want us saving the world? That's what I thought. Look, I'll get you your stupid doohickey and then I'll chuck it at your face, sound good? Sounds good. Go hug a tree."

Tony slammed the phone down, groaning and rubbing a hand over his face as FRIDAY hung up the call, cutting off Ross. Tony sighed, "Gosh I hate that man."

"Wow."

Tony turned and saw Peter standing in the doorway, suppressing a smile. "Yeah," he groaned. 

"What did he want?" Peter asked, coming in and holding down screw so Tony could finally tighten it into place. Tony looked up slowly. "He needs me to go back to the compound. He thinks something of HYDRA's survived the explosion and wants me to bring it in."

Peter's gaze didn't waver, "When?"

"As soon as possible," Tony admitted. "They've seen brief pulses of energy and a few possible heat signatures. A few lucky guards left maybe."

"So when are we going?" Peter asked. 

Tony almost dropped the screwdriver. He raised an eyebrow, "Who said anything about we?"

Peter almost laughed, "Well, you're not going alone."

"Yeah, Pete, I am," Tony said slowly. 

Peter frowned, "No. You're not. I'm coming with you."

"I don't want you going back to that place Peter," Tony said, shaking his head firmly. 

Peter shrugged, "I haven't been getting better with the nightmares. I can be useful at least now, I've got my flip down and if I switch hands I can swing. Maybe kicking some HYDRA butt will give me closure?"

"Or it could make it worse," Tony urged.

"It can't get worse," Peter said plainly. He shook his head, seemingly blinking back tears and straightening. His voice was firm, "It can't get any worse."

"Peter-"

"Please?" Peter pleaded.

Tony locked eyes with Peter, taking a deep breath for dramatic effect, "No."

Tony called a suit and a couple minutes later he was on the tarmac, heading over to his car so he could drive to the helicopter he had FRIDAY activate. The windows were tinted and Tony opened the door, looking behind him for Peter just in case he would come sprinting. Seeing nothing and applauding the kid for not coming, Tony slid into the drivers seat and closed the door. He stuck the key in the ignition, grabbing his bag and tossing it in the back. 

"Ouch."

Tony whipped around and Peter had his bag in his hands and he looked at him guilty, his Iron Spider suit gleaming even in the car. 

"Peter, I swear to God," Tony warned, twisting around in his seat to point angrily at Peter. "You shouldn't be here."

"How did you not see me when you got in the car?" Peter marveled. 

"That's what you're asking?" Tony spluttered. "I was looking down!"

"I could have been an assassin. I could have killed you," Peter pointed out.

"I'm about to kill you," Tony exclaimed. 

"I really think you should maybe reconsider your previous statement-" Peter rambled, raising the bag for protection. 

"Which was no," Tony reminded him.

"I don't want you going in alone and I really need this-" Peter whined, reminding Tony of when he was on the jungle gym back when Tony had saved him from drowning in the lake. 

"Don't tell me you thought this through," Tony sighed. 

"I did think this through- I did think this through Tony," Peter said firmly. "I need to get out of there. These people are my enemies more than they are yours. And if I can blow up one thing, I'll get more than one hour of sleep at night knowing I got back at them, even if it's minor, for what they did to me."

Tony narrowed his eyes, rubbing his goatee. Finally he sighed, turning around and putting the car in drive. "I'm gonna regret this."

He gave Peter a wink in the mirror, smirking proudly at Peter's wide grin, "Yeah yeah, you won."

"Thank you Tony," Peter said sincerely. 

Tony nodded and then turned to glance at Peter, "Alright Underoos. Show me what you've got."

Peter grinned. 

"You ready kid?" Tony asked, getting out of the car and stepping onto the tarmac. 

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "I've never been in a helicopter before."

"What are you afraid of heights or something?" Tony teased. 

"No," Peter laughed, getting on. He winced and switched arms to pull himself up, thankful that Tony didn't notice. Tony settled down in the seat across from Peter who was staring around the helicopter.

"No pilot? That's awesome," Peter grinned, his eyes wide. 

"Strap in Parker," Tony reminded him as he allowed FRIDAY to start the copter. The blades started spinning and the doors shut. 

Peter looked at the headsets on the side of the copter excitedly, "Don't we have to put these on so we can hear one another?"

Tony laughed, "If you were broke. You're talking to a billionaire Pete. The cabin's sound proofed and insulated."

"Oh," Peter grinned. The helicopter rose higher and Peter looked out the window, peering around to look at the clouds. He could see the compound getting smaller and smaller below them. 

"You sure you're ready for this Peter?" Tony asked nervously. 

"Yeah. I'm fine," Peter said, still distracted by the technology inside the copter.

Tony's phone buzzed and he looked down, muttering, "Crap."

Peter snapped his gaze back to Tony, "What?"

Tony held up the phone, "It's your Aunt. She's gonna kill me."

Peter grabbed the phone and answered, "Hi May. Yeah I forgot my phone. We're...hiking. Yeah. I'm fine. Yeah pizza is good-" he moved to the side as Tony made a swipe at his phone.

"Give it back," Tony hissed.

"Alright, love you too, bye-" Peter hit the end call and handed Tony the phone who glared at him. 

Peter grinned and then pleaded with him, "Tony, I need this. I've been cooped up. I've missed this suit. I've missed shooting webs-"

"You shot a web and broke my vase yesterday," Tony pointed out. 

"That's different," Peter waved him off. "I've missed helping people and making a difference. I'm am Avenger now."

"You can't just use that as an excuse for everything," Tony laughed, putting up his hands before Peter could protest, "but fine. I'll give you this one."

"Thanks," Peter said, settling down in his seat with a smile. 

"FRIDAY, track Ross' doohickey."

_"Tracking Ross'..."_

"You know you want to say it FRIDAY, come on," Tony grinned.

Peter gave him a look, suppressing a smile, "Doohickey?"

"He wouldn't tell me what it is. He hates that word," Tony waved Peter off, "so, doohickey."

_"The energy surge is coming from in the center of the collapsed building. I have planned you the clearest pathway to your objective, but I cannot guarantee the stability of the building."_

"Alright, let's go," Tony said, walking with Peter to the nearest section of rock. He blasted through it and shone his palm down the dark, caved in, hallway. 

"Well that's inviting," Peter gulped, still comfortable since he was on solid ground, grass under his feet. The helmet materialized over his head and Peter narrowed his eyes.

Tony stepped in first, keeping his light steady in front of him. He called over his shoulder. "Peter, stay close."

"Yeah," Peter said quietly, his voice drastically changing from the way it had been outside. 

"You ok kid?" Tony asked. 

Peter nodded and Tony half wished his helmet wasn't covering his face. He could always read the kid better by his eyes. "Yeah," Peter said, "just...yeah."

"You can wait by the-" Tony suggested.

"And leave you here alone?" Peter scoffed, "no. And you said you wouldn't bench me."

"Steady Crockett, I'm not benching you," Tony assured him. 

Tony maneuvered around a fallen ceiling and then came to a stop when they turned the corner. The whole floor was caved in and Tony cursed. Peter's mask peeled back and he looked at Tony, "Do we jump it?" 

"FRIDAY, is there a way around this?" Tony asked. 

_"This is the fastest way and the safest. Any other route I'm afraid the ceilings may cave in on you."_

"Ok, well. Pete, you got this?"

"Yeah, yeah no problem," Peter said nervously.

"I'll go first in case you need me to- just-" Tony fired up his boots and landed on the other side. He nodded at Peter who shot a web at the center of the building and tested it's weight. It held and Peter backed up before he sprinted forward, throwing himself forward with a gymnast's style. Peter flipped off the web as it snapped and stretched out, landing awkwardly on the very edge of the drop off. Peter's foot slipped and his eyes went wide, locking with Tony's as the small bit of ground he had gave way. 

"Tony-" he yelped.

Tony grabbed his good arm as he fell, Peter's feet dropping out from under him, rocks tumbling down the drop into the abyss below. Tony pulled him up and clasped Peter's other arm, Peter's feet finding solid ground and sliding across the floor as Tony led him away from the edge. When he was as far as he wanted, Tony clutched the back of his head with an his hand, still not letting go of Peter's arm. The helmet popped up and Tony steadied him. 

"You ok kid?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded, "good catch."

"Yeah," Tony grinned. 

Then Peter tensed, grabbing Tony's arm and looking over his shoulder. At the same time he heard FRIDAY say, _"Sir, 2 men approaching. They are armed."_

"You go left, I go right," Tony said, walking forward. Peter crouched, narrowing his eyes, his mask concealing his face again. The two men rounded the hallway, fearful expressions on their faces, guns raised and they barely had time to blink. Tony blasted one of them to the back wall and Peter shot a web, knocking the agent's gun out of his hand before he spun and shot another at the man's legs, flipping him and knocking him unconscious. 

Tony and Peter straightened and continued walking and Tony fist bumped Peter in his good shoulder. 

_"2 minutes and you're there,"_ FRIDAY reported.

"Thanks FR-" Tony froze. He had been watching Peter who had suddenly stopped walking and snapped up alertly, looking at Tony with wide eyes. 

"What is it kid?" Tony asked.

Peter shook his head, "I- I don't know. The ground is shaking."

_"It appears the structure is having another failure sir. It's been slowly collapsing for the past week. I can't predict the faults. You need to get out of there, now."_

"I was afraid this would happen. FRIDAY how much time do we have?"

_"I don't know. Not much. I can't predict the movements Tony, especially with the jammer's signals haywire. You could be flying blind."_

"Peter, get out of here," Tony said. 

Peter shook his head, "No! What? No way."

"Kid, listen to me, I can go in and get the piece and meet you outside. Trust me," Tony said. 

"You're wasting time trying to convince me to leave you. I'm not going anywhere, now let's go," Peter said, swinging down the hallway. Tony cursed and flew after him, dodging sliding sections of caving in rock. 

"When we get home we have to talk about your obedience to your elders," Tony called to him through their comms.

"I was never good at following directions," Peter said, and Tony could tell Peter was pumped with adrenaline, but he also noticed he wasn't doing much swinging with his bad arm. 

"You sound like me," Tony laughed.

"Learned from the best- woah!" Peter kicked off the wall to get momentum as the ground caved in. 

Tony swerved around a caved in ceiling and blasted through a rock on his right side. He had caught up to Peter and shouted, "Left-"

"TONY!" Peter screamed. 

FRIDAY's jumbled warning came through milliseconds after Peter's. _"Boss-"_

Tony cursed himself for not realizing she had gone silent. She wasn't silent. She had been screaming at him to look out. 

Tony looked up as a section of ceiling slanted down and slid, crumbling the wall in and heading straight for his head. Tony braced when suddenly there was a blue of red and blue and Peter tackled him, sending them spinning off in the other direction.

Suddenly Peter was yanked from his grasp with a strangled scream and Tony reached for him but missed, still disoriented in the tight space. Peter's ankle had been caught within a falling rock and he fell, landing on a pile of caving in rocks. He clawed at the crumbling ground, looking up at Tony in fear before the mask closed over his face and he covered his head as the ceiling came down.

"NO!" Tony dove, but he was too late. A pile of rocks came down and Tony was forced to swerve, spinning off to the side. 

Tony rightened himself, screaming the kid's name and shooting over to the massive pile of rubble that had covered the spot where Peter had been sucked under. The ground had stopped shaking and Tony ran to the edge. 

"KID! Peter!" Tony yelled, "FRIDAY track- FRIDAY?" There was no answer from his A.I. He didn't even know if Peter was- of course he wasn't. He was ok. Tony steadied himself, cursing, not knowing what to do. "PETER!" he yelled again, waiting for an answer.

"T- ny?" there came a crackle from his speaker. "T- ny? He-o? Tony!"

"Pete? Peter! Yeah, Pete. Talk to me kid," Tony demanded. 

"I'm ok," Peter said breathlessly, his voice becoming clearer but still cutting out every once in a while. "I- dropped down into- lower lev- I'm ok tho-ugh."

"Are you hurt?" Tony asked, trying to reboot FRIDAY at the same time, kneeling by the pile of rubble to try and get a stronger connection with Peter. 

"An-way," Peter said, obviously avoiding the question, "Find the piece- I'll mee- you. Karen can tr-ack."

"No, I can come down and get you Peter," Tony said, knowing he was hurt. 

"Ton- there's- no time- go, I'll be fi-"

"Fine. Just stay safe," Tony said, getting to his feet and cursing. Then he flew down the hallway, cursing himself for leaving Peter alone. 

"Tony, there's no time. Go, I'll be fine," Peter said, gritting his teeth because of the pain but managing to stop his voice from shaking. He was in the same position as he was when he had first gotten thrown down the rockslide, sprawled out on his side, in a lot of pain.

"Fine," Tony said, clearly not happy with what Peter had said. "Just stay safe."

Their coms cut off and Peter let out a groan of pain, falling onto his back in exhaustion.

"Karen, how am I looking?" he said weakly, grabbing his side and wincing. He webbed up a cut from a rock that had penetrated his suit, blood already seeping through. 

_"You've got multiple crush wounds from the fall, a puncture in your side, a concussion, a re-fractured rib, and a sprained ankle."_

"Great," Peter said, mustering a laugh, "I'm not gonna bleed out just yet right?"

_"Was that...a practical joke or-"_

"Nevermind," Peter winced. He had fallen further than he had let Tony believe. 3 levels, which meant, unfortunately, Peter knew this hallway very well. He got to his feet, using the wall for support. 

"So, Karen, is there any way to get back up there?" Peter squinted, looking at the pile of rocks that he had been tumbled around in. 

_"Not this way. There's an opening a couple ways down,"_ Karen reported. 

"Of course there is," Peter said, gulping. "Ok, I can do this, I can do this." Peter started limping down the broken hallway, climbing over broken walls and overturned tables cautiously, his mind playing tricks on him, picturing the way this place used to look. Peter could still hear his own screams in his ears and he walked faster, his breathing speeding up. 

_"Left,"_ Karen said. 

"Is there...is there any other way?" Peter asked slowly. 

_"No Peter, I'm afraid not. The other route is caved in."_

"O-Okay," Peter said slowly. He turned the corner and walked slowly, staying on the far edge of the wall. He clenched his fists, keeping one hand clasped on his side, limping so he didn't put so much pressure on his ankle. 

"You think you can run from me Peter?"

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, putting his back against the wall and sinking the floor before he could fall. He tried to concentrate on his breathing but that only made things worse. Peter felt like he was going to throw up. The mask receded and Peter gasped for breath, rubbing his face with his hands. 

_"Peter? Peter, are you alright?"_

Peter didn't answer. The room was spinning. Peter's chest tightened up. A splash of water came from the side, a punch came from the opposite.

"Hit him."

"Again."

"Every time you close your eyes-"

"It's not real," Peter said through gritted teeth. He slammed his head hard into the wall, which probably wasn't the best idea, but the voices drowned out, mostly because Peter was seconds away from going unconscious.

 _"Peter! WAKE UP!"_ Karen yelled in his suit.

Peter snapped awake, gasping, blinking, instinctively curling up on himself, covering his head to stop whatever blow was coming. Being back here...it made him feel young, scared, weak...

It wasn't like anyone cared about him anyway. He was nothing-

 _"Peter, stop it,"_ Karen ordered. 

Peter took a deep breath, "Karen. What they did to me here...I still can't tell what's real. My whole world is upside down."

_"You know what's real Peter. Deep down. Concentrate."_

Come on Peter, he thought, they didn't beat you. He winced and grasped at the wall, slowly getting to his feet with a cry of pain.

_"Tony's waiting for you. Whatever you hear Peter, whatever you see, it's not real. Focus ok? You need to get to Tony."_

"Yeah. Yeah, thanks Karen," Peter nodded, taking a few steps, focusing on each place he set his heel down, every pile of rubble he had to avoid, every caved in ceiling he had to climb over, but even while focusing on that, he knew it was coming up. And he couldn't avoid that one. He was stronger than that. 

Peter stopped and looked up, taking a deep breath. Peter slowly turned and his chest tightened.

There was his cell.

The first one that he had spent more than a week in.

The one he shivered in.

The one he cried out in pain in.

The one he was tortured in.

The chair was still standing. Even though the whole room was crumpled to the ground, the chair was still upright. Peter took a deep breath, for a second, seeing himself curled in the corner shivering, seeing the overturned bucket by the door, seeing the broken cameras and computers smashed outside of the room. 

He still felt the cold, he still felt the water being dumped on his head, he still felt the pain, and he still felt the anger when he glared up at the stupid camera in the corner, the blinking red light reminding him he wasn't safe. 

Peter limped over and grabbed the back of the chair firmly, still seeing dried blood on it. His blood. In anger he threw the chair across the room and it landed, a leg breaking off with the force he threw it with. Peter, staggering a bit from memories, pain, and weakness, looked around the room. He turned in a full circle, breathing shakily, tears of anger in his eyes, his chest hot. 

"Screw you," Peter whispered. And then he limped out. 

Tony shoved a massive section of crumpled ceiling aside and found the glowing centerpiece on one of the smashed panels.

"Is this it?" Tony asked FRIDAY.

_"It's the only thing radiating any form of electricity. It seems like it's a container for a power source inside, much like the tesseract or scepter."_

"Gotcha, so don't open it," Tony guessed.

 _"I would go with no,"_ FRIDAY responded. 

Tony nodded and put the piece inside the nano particle briefcase he had just designed. Then he started making his way out of the hole he had to crawl into the get to the stupid thing. He shoved a section of ceiling aside and ducked under a fallen light. 

"This better have been worth it," he muttered, blasting through the half caved in wall. He looked left and right and picked left, walking a little bit before he asked, "How's your tracking FRIDAY. Back on?"

_"Fully functional sir."_

"That's what we like to hear," Tony nodded. "Track Peter." 

_"I don't need to sir. Turn the corner,"_ FRIDAY said. 

Tony quickened his pace and breathed a sigh of relief, rounding the corner and stopping. Peter was leaning against the wall, slowly limping down the hallway, his hand clutched at his side. His ankle looked a little weak, hence the limp, but besides a few cuts on his face and a wound in his side, Peter looked ok. Thank God.

The kid's face brightened when he saw Tony and he mustered a laugh.

"You took too long," Peter gasped out. 

"Yeah, sorry buddy," Tony said, meeting him halfway and clapping him on the shoulder, but at the same time holding him up in his firm grasp, "You ok?"

"Yeah," Peter winced. "I've been worse."

"Yea, you have," Tony said angrily, giving him a quick cup to his cheek with his hand as he looked behind him towards the exit, "Let's get out of here, yeah?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded, allowing Tony to sling his arm around his shoulders and help him limp the rest of the way out. 

They got back onto the helicopter and Tony slumped in his seat. "If it makes you feel better I took out the rest of the guards. But just for good measure," he pulled up a control panel and clicked a button. Peter heard a rumble and he looked out the window as another fireball erupted below them. 

"Was that necessary?" Peter grinned, wincing in pain. 

Tony took one look at him and instantly nodded. "Yes. Yes it was."

Peter raised his eyebrows and Tony shook his head, looking him over. "What am I gonna tell May?"

Peter grinned, "What, you afraid of her?"

"When she's angry? Yeah," Tony laughed. "And me taking her lying nephew," Tony gave him a glare and Peter smirked, "back to the place where he was kept for a week? The literal opposite of 'hiking', yeah. That's gonna make her pretty mad."

Peter laughed again, "Yeah, yeah it will. I'll take it then. Say I snuck away in your copter and you had no choice. It was me on the phone anyway."

"You snuck away in my car," Tony corrected, "and besides, I'd take a bullet for you. I think I can handle a full hour of getting yelled at by your unusually attractive aunt."

"Thanks Tony," Peter smiled. 

"Anytime kid, anytime."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave your thoughts! How was it? Stay tuned <3


	11. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dang I posted quicker than normal, I just realized that haha. Ur welcome. Next one may take longer. This one  
> s a shorter chapter but packed with more angst we love angst i love angst I'm sure you love angst- I think I'm sleep deprived...it's fine.  
> Anyway...short recap, they get busted by May, Peter's recovering and he and Tony finally discuss what Stein did to Peter (poor boy). That leads to Tony learning what happened to Uncle Ben, and also Bucky and Peter have a moment- we haven't rly seen them on screen a lot which I feel would have been funny chemistry. Then (and this is a tradition) I always have to roast Ross at some point because I hate him sm XD  
> Sad news: next chapter will probs be last chapter??? I'm pretty sure :(  
> But enjoy this one! I love you guys <3

"You two did what?" May asked, gritting her teeth. 

"Recall mission to undercover a piece of HYDRA technology," Tony said. 

"Went back to the blown up HYDRA compound full of dead guys and rubble to get a glowey rock after the ceiling cell under a collapsed room 4 levels down," Peter said. 

Tony glared at him and Peter shrank away, "Sorry."

"You told me you were hiking!" May exclaimed. 

"We were!" Peter protested. " _To the compound_. It's on the top of a ridge...."

"Room," May said firmly, motioning to the hallway. 

"But-" Peter protested. 

"ROOM Peter!" May said again, daring him to argue, pointing down the hall. 

Peter looked at Tony who gave him a wink and a pat on the back. Peter slowly walked down the hall and when he had turned the corner May started talking. 

"What were you thinking?" May asked, running a hand through her hair. 

"He needed it May," Tony protested. 

"He could have been killed," May said angrily, sinking down in the seat.

"If it makes you feel any better, I said no to begin with," Tony assured her, taking the spot next to her. "Then he snuck in my car and we fought for a while before I finally gave in."

"Why did you say yes?" May asked, looking at him like she genuinely wanted to know.

"It's not like he just said please and I caved," Tony said. He wrung his hands. 

"He needed it. He needed closure, he needed to face his fear, and he needed to get out of the compound. He's been couped up in here for so long, he wanted to get out. Now, what he did when he had the chance to get out was extreme, and if you want to yell at me, I'll take it, because half of me has been yelling at myself for the whole morning. But the other half of me just loves seeing him enthusiastic and smiling again."

"I do too," May said, looking fondly down the hall. "I just don't- I'm afraid to lose him again."

"That's not gonna happen," Tony said firmly, locking eyes with her and nodding. "I promise."

"He really looks up to you, you know. You two are quite the team," she smirked, giving him a slight nudge. 

"Yeah, well, he's a good kid," Tony said proudly. 

"You know he dressed up as you for Halloween one year?" May laughed, shaking her head, "His hero."

"He had an Iron Man suit?" Tony asked, shocked. He laughed, "I'm gonna need those pictures."

"Not Iron Man. Tony Stark," May corrected and Tony felt a surge of pride. May shook her head, "I'll admit Tony, when he first 'interned' for you, I was not a fan. I thought you were distracted, avaricious, stuck up..."

Tony smirked, "and have I changed your mind?"

"Yes," May nodded. She motioned towards Peter's room, "He's proof of that. When his father died, he and Ben bonded closely. And then when Ben...when Ben passed away, and Peter apparently had just gotten his powers, he was lost for a bit. Spiderman was the reason he stayed on track, and then you came into the picture and Peter...he threw himself at everything he could, trying to make you proud and prove himself. You really took him under your wing, so, thank you for that."

Tony nodded, unsure of what to say to that. There was a small smile on his face.

May smiled fondly at him, "He's lost both of his father figures in his life, and it's good to know that you're sticking around." She put her hand on his shoulder and stood up. 

"Thanks May," Tony said sincerely. 

"You take him on any more missions before he's healed and I will kill you though," May said, only half teasing. 

Tony laughed, "Yes ma'am."

There was a knock on the door and Peter looked up from the web shooter he was fiddling with on his bed, "Yeah?"

"Hey kid," Tony peeked his head in. 

"You're alive," Peter joked weakly. 

"We're in the clear," Tony assured him, walking in. "Move your foot because I'm gonna sit there," Tony pointed, crossing the room and taking the spot next to Peter.

Peter tossed his web shooter into the drawer and grinned, "So I'm not in trouble?"

Tony laughed, "No. Just no more lying to your Aunt about us going hiking. And we won't be going hiking until you're better."

Peter frowned but nodded, "Fair."

"Doesn't mean you're couped up here," Tony pointed out. "Just no crazy...i don't know, crap. Deal?"

"Deal," Peter nodded. 

"We never really...talked about what happened," Tony said slowly, looking over at him. "Did you want to?" 

Peter shifted in his position, "I- I don't know. Talk about...what?"

"The Louisiana Purchase, Peter," Tony drawled. "Talked about what he did to you. I know you haven't been getting sleep. I don't know, I just want to...I want to make sure you're ok."

"I'm fine," Peter said quickly. 

Tony nodded, unsure of what to say and then he patted Peter's knee and nodded again, getting up. 

"I forgot my own name," Peter said quietly. 

Tony turned, pursing his lips. He sat back down on the bed. 

"It's such a twisted thing to say but I liked the physical torture better. I could fight that. I could handle that. The freezing sessions, the stab, the human punching bag. It sucked but I could, you know..." Peter trailed off and looked down. "I pissed him off. I scared him. I wouldn't break. And when he threw an insult at me, I could throw one back. It was encouraging to be the one almost in control. But when they got in my head..."

"Peter, you don't have to- I don't want to make you-" Tony said quickly, wishing he had never said anything. 

Peter shook his head firmly, "I have to talk about it sometime, right? It's a good time too, leaving it all in the past? Overcoming it? Otherwise I'll bottle it all up and that's never good."

"Ok," Tony said quietly. 

Peter took a deep breath. "The room you found me in was meant to drive people insane. It was dark and completely quiet. They had the serum making me weak and there was this beeping noise, like an audio form of water boarding and sometimes- I can still hear it." Peter's hand was shaking and he curled it into a fist, flexing his fingers. 

"They used that serum to make me see things. You dying, me not being able to save a kid, my uncle's death," Peter laughed quietly and let out a harsh, "spiders." He rubbed his nose. "I couldn't get them out of my head. They felt so real. They were real, to me. And I went through it that 24 times," Peter nodded to himself, "24."

"Then there was a new one," Peter licked his lips. "You would come in, untie me, tell me we had to go, that you found me, that I was gonna be ok, that you were...real. You never were."

"That's why when I came in..." Tony said softly.

Peter nodded, "I-I guess Stein was satisfied after that. Then they...they took me into the lab. Sometimes I wake up and my wrists are still strapped, Stein's still standing over me, and the gag's still in my mouth-" Peter trailed off again, looking at his feet. "I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move, but somehow I did when they shocked me, so...not sure how that works," Peter said weakly, as an attempt at a joke.

"Each time, I would repeat the same phrase. My name is Peter B. Parker. I'm 16 years old and I'm Spiderman. I'm an Avenger. I have an Aunt named May-" Peter stopped, and then he whispered, "and Tony Stark is like a father to me."

Tony straightened at that. 

"I would always forget it by the end. I would forget my name, that I was Spiderman, May, everything, but each time, I had only one memory left. The day before I got kidnapped I hugged you in the kitchen. And...that- that stuck. I don't know why but it did and the first 3 times I would always remember. It would start with your name, then my name, then everything would just fall in place," Peter smiled sadly.

"Stein made sure that didn't happen the last time. He told me I had to kill you. And...well, you know the rest," Peter said, glancing up at Tony. "I'm not- I'm not sleeping much. Whenever I wake up I have to make sure everything's real, and that I'm not just making all this up."

"Peter," Tony put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything you saw, it wasn't real, it's never gonna happen."

Peter laughed without humor, "See, that's where you're wrong."

"What- what do you mean?" Tony asked, knitting his eyebrows. 

"The kid on the bridge. I would never be able to save him. He always fell and that's...that's gonna happen eventually. May not be on a bridge, but...Tony you've said it yourself. I can't save everyone," Peter said sadly. 

"That shouldn't make it a fear. Peter, it's not your job to save everyone," Tony assured him. 

"I didn't save Uncle Ben," Peter said so quietly Tony almost didn't hear him. 

Tony frowned and he rubbed Peter's back. "Kid that-" 

"Don't!" Peter said angrily. "Don't tell me it wasn't my fault! It- it was." He put his head in his hands.

"It was a school night. I had just gotten my powers like a month before. I went to the store for May after a fight with Uncle Ben. I- I was in the store and went to the counter. I was one cent short- just one cent, and the man made me put back the book I wanted. Said it 'wasn't his problem'. As I was walking out the man behind me in line took the money from the cash register and bolted. He tossed me the book and ran out the door. I hid the book in my jacket and by the time the cashier had realized what happened he was gone, down the street. He yelled at me as why I didn't stop him and responded, 'not my problem'. Then I left."

Peter clasped his hands and put them under his chin, resting his elbows on his knees. "Walking back home I heard a gunshot and went running forward. There was a huge crowd so I stopped and pushed my way through and there was Uncle Ben," Peter bit back a sob, tears filling up in his eyes, "lying with a gunshot wound to the stomach. He had tried to stop the robber... the robber that I had let past without a second thought."

Peter shook his head, taking a shaky breath, already feeling like he was going to throw up, "I didn't see a gun on him, I swear...but..." He bit his fist, trying to compose himself. "I had already lost my father, and then Uncle Ben, and- I-" A tear ran down his cheek and Peter lowered his head.

"It was my fault. He- he died in my arms. I watched him die...my hands covered in his blood-" Peter put his head in his hands, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Tony put a hand on his back, swallowing a sob, "Come here kid."

Peter turns and lowers his head into Tony's shoulder. Tony put his arm around him and whispered, "It's not your fault. Peter, I promise." 

"It hurts," Peter said quietly. "It all just hurts. I'm tired of being cold, I'm tired of the nightmares, of the shaking, or the fear, of waking up and having to pinch myself or punch the wall until my hand bleeds so I know I'm real- I wish I couldn't feel it. I wish I couldn't feel any of it Tony," he gasps out. 

Tony took a shaky breath, gulping down tears of his own, not wanting Peter to see him cry. He held the kid to his chest, reaching up and putting his hand on Peter's head, rubbing his thumb through the kid's hair. Tony held him close, wishing he could take it all away so Peter would never have to feel it. All of it. 

"You're ok Pete," Tony assured him, holding him tightly, "You're ok. You're gonna be ok."

Peter woke up at 3 in the morning with his head in his pillow. There was a blanket over him and Peter blinked, rubbing his face with his hand, messing up the streaks of tears that were stained on them. The lamp was still on by his desk and there was a small piece of paper sitting next to it. 

Peter got up, marveling the fact that he slept this long. He pushed the blankets back and stood slowly, walking across the room and picking up the paper. 

_Hey Underoos,_

_Get some sleep, but wake me up if you need anything- I'm serious, don't go all Braveheart on me._

_Love you kid,_

_-TS_

Peter smiled and set it back down. He looked back at his bed and shivered. The extra blanket that used to be on top of his bed was gone; May must have washed it.

"Crap," Peter said slowly. He grabbed his mask and shoved it on, "Hey Karen, I know it's late but the closet down the hall, can you check the security camera from the lab across from it and tell me if there's an extra blanket?"

_"Sure thing, one second. Yep. There's one."_

"Ok, I'll be right back," Peter said, transferring her out of the mask so she could talk and observe from his speaker and laptop, (something he and Tony had thought up so she wasn't just confined to a mask).

Peter sighed, yawning and he shook his head to wake himself up, taking off the mask and smoothing down his static hair.

Peter opened his door slowly, as to not wake anyone up. Then he slowly made his way down the hall, turning the corner. The closet door was open and Peter peeked around it. Bucky was inside; he must have just missed Peter, walking in a second before he did. 

"Hey Buck," Peter said quietly. 

Bucky turned and smiled awkwardly, "Hey kid."

They hadn't really talked much...ever...but Peter offered him a smile, "Metal arm...so cool."

Bucky grinned and Peter cocked his head, "So you're back?"

"Yeah," Bucky nodded. "Steve and I got back late last night." Bucky slowed down his sentence when he got to the word Steve. "Sorry...are you guys..."

"He sold me out to save you, but I was basically the one who told him to do it. Unknowingly, of course. But I- I understand why he did it," Peter said slowly, shaking his head, "but yeah, we're- we're good. No...hard feelings or any of that with you too."

"Ok," Bucky clearly looked relieved and guilty at the same time. 

Peter nodded, "Yep."

Then Bucky reached up and grabbed the last extra blanket from the top shelf and Peter suppressed his look of dismay with a sad smile.

"Cold?" He asked knowingly. 

"Yeah," Bucky nodded. "I made it to -15 degrees."

"-50," Peter said, "not that it's a competition. The two shared a laugh at their twisted humor. 

"Were you about to-" Bucky asked, offering him the blanket. 

"No," Peter laughed, "no, I'm good. Fell asleep on the ground. Never made my bed up," Peter said smoothly, grabbing a pair of sheets. 

"Have to say I've done that before. Almost more comfortable, more normal," Bucky nodded. 

"Yeah," Peter said. He knew that feeling. "Hey, can...can you sleep?"

"Sometimes," Bucky admitted. 

"How?" Peter asked.

"I've gotten...used to it. I still have nightmares, they just don't...scare me as much now. And they don't wake me up like they used to," he said. 

"Must be nice," Peter looked down. 

"You'll get there," Bucky assured him.

"Yeah, that's what everyone's telling me. It's still there, ya know? I still see the hallways in my mind, I still feel the cuffs and the straps- and I know that's not going to go away. It just...scares me. That I'm never going to be able to forget it, even though I want to so badly."

"You don't forget it," Bucky said firmly. "But you grow from it, you cope, you adapt. You deal. It's not easy."

Peter scoffed, "When is it ever?"

Bucky gave him a smile, "Good point." Then the Winter Solider locked eyes with him and smiled sadly. "As someone who's had theirbrain toyed with for more than they would have liked, if you ever need to talk about...what happened in there, I'm all ears kid."

"Thanks," Peter nodded.

"Not that you're weak or anything. I'm not offering a shoulder to cry on because you're strong. They would talk about you outside my cell you know. Said you showed Stein- wouldn't break no matter what they threw at you. You're actually the reason they didn't brainwash me again; they thought there was something wrong with the process but that was just you kid," Bucky nodded, giving him an encouraging smile. 

"Thanks," Peter grinned. Bucky clapped him on the shoulder and it took all of Peter's strength not to wince as Bucky's metal hand hit his injured shoulder. He turned and he and Bucky went their separate ways back to their rooms. 

Peter sighed at his sheets in his hand and grabbed a hoodie, putting it on. Suddenly, there was a knock at his door and Peter turned, knitting his eyebrows. He crossed the room and opened the door. 

Tony yawned, shoving a blanket in his hands, "I said _don't_ go all Braveheart."

"How did you-" Peter marveled.

"Next time, snatch the blanket first-" Tony suggested, and then he waved his hand, rubbing his eye with the other, "I'm kidding. I never said that, your aunt would kill me. You're a good kid."

"Thanks?" Peter said, looking down at the blanket in confusion of how Tony knew. 

"Also, put on a brace for your ankle. Pepper told me to tell you, and please do because she's been talking to me about it all night. And if you don't she's gonna do it instead," Tony said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. 

"O-ok?" Peter stuttered.

"Ok, good talk, go to bed," Tony said, turning Peter's head around and shutting the door for him. 

Peter stood in the middle of the room, confused at what had just happened, but already feeling warmer with the blanket in his hands. 

"Karen, did you-"

 _"Hey, FRIDAY and I talk. When I saw you let Bucky have the blanket- I had to Peter,"_ Karen said. 

"Thanks," Peter grinned. 

The next day, Peter woke up after getting 4 and a half hours of sleep, a new record. All the Avengers were back and it was a saturday, which meant they all were 'off' and were going to have breakfast and brief with Ross. For the first time, Peter was invited to that second part, now that most of S.H.I.E.L.D. knew his identity, which kind of scared him. (To ease his worries Tony had personally sworn to see to it that that remained the extent of the people that knew, threatening to beat anyone up who spread it and keep it off the internet.) 

Peter sat down among his friends, a little nervous about eating with the Avengers for the first time. He and Steve made awkward eye contact and Peter gave him a nod. Steve didn't look at Tony who glared at him when he tried to sit 2 chairs from Peter. Cap settled for the farthest chair away from Tony and Peter, which was on the other end of the table next to Vision. Bucky took his place next to Steve, earning a nod from Tony and a smile from Peter. 

"Syrup!" Clint called, "you uncultured swine."

Sam, who was closest to the kitchen opened the cabinet but Peter was faster, aiming his web shooter and snatching the bottle before he could grab it. Peter caught it, setting it on the table and shrugging at the Falcon who turned around in confusion. 

"Too slow Sam, sorry," Peter grinned. 

Rhodey whistled, trying to beat Tony's high score in darts. Well, the highscore was a perfect score by-

A dart embedded itself right in the center and Rhodey turned with a blank, annoyed expression on his face, "Really?"

Clint grinned. 

-except for Clint, but no one counted him. 

Wanda used her telekinesis to lift the container of pancakes and set it on the table. 

"Oh look, they're burnt," Tony observed. 

"They are not," Natasha said, throwing the first one at his face. It never hit; Peter's arm lashed out, catching it last second and setting it on his plate. Tony winked at him and Natasha rolled her eyes, but gave Peter a smirk.

Clint stole the pancakes from Bruce before he could get to them, causing Bruce to try and be funny and fake a hulk roar, getting up out of his seat while everyone shook their heads. Bruce looked at Natasha who was pulling him gently back into his seat.

"No?" Bruce asked. 

"No," everyone agreed. 

"How's it taste?" Wanda teased. Everyone snickered and Vision gave her a blank look, still not grasping sarcasm fully. 

"No hard feelings, we love you buddy," Tony called.

Peter grinned and started to drown his pancakes in syrup until Tony took it away and further banned it from ever getting back into his 'grabbing range' for the rest of breakfast. It was very effective.

Tony and Cap cleared the plates, not exchanging any words. It would be a while before he gained the team's trust back, that was for sure. 

Sam was arguing with Bucky at the end of the table, waving their arms and throwing playful insults back and forth like always.

"Who's looking forward to Ross' briefing?" Rhodey asked when they were almost done. 

No one raised their hands, except for Clint and Nat who immediately glared at Wanda who had raised their arms with a flick of her finger. 

"Not...funny..." Clint made out, in the middle of an arm wrestle with Nat. 

"Speak of the devil," Tony said, answering the call on the big screen. 

"Hello everyo-" Ross started.

"Ah, hold please," Tony said, Ross' face disappearing.

"Stark, we get in trouble when you do that," Clint laughed. 

"But it's so worth it. 3 more seconds," Tony waited, then returned to the call. "Hey, we were just talking about you Ross."

"I'm sure you were," Ross grumbled, and then his eyes fell on Peter. "Who's that?"

"I'm fine, how are you," Tony said, putting his hands up in mock hurt.

Peter shot a web, closing the trashcan. "I'm Spiderman."

Ross looked at him in distaste and glanced over at Tony, "A little young isn't he? Doesn't look a day over 14."

Peter raised his eyebrows, remembering how many all nighters this man caused Tony with no thanks. He immediately screwed his face up and muttered, "And you don't look a day over 80, are we really going to discuss age?"

Ross glared at him, clearly hearing him as all the Avengers hid their snickers behind their hands. 

"Stark?" Ross asked through his teeth, waiting for Tony to reprimand him. 

"Oh, right," he cleared his throat and turned in his chair. "Peter, that was very rude, he's only 79," Tony said, giving him a high five, "some people get very offended-"

"That's enough Stark," Ross sighed. 

"Yes sir," Tony mocked, spinning back around after giving Peter a wink. 

"Now that we're back on track," Ross said before someone else interrupted him. 

"Did you get a haircut Ross?" Clint asked. 

"I did actually," Ross said, surprised someone noticed.

"Yeah, I hate it," Clint said, taking a sip of his drink. 

"Thank you Barton," Ross sighed, self consciously brushing his hair. 

Clint gave him a thumbs up, leaning back in his chair. Natasha gave him a fist bump off camera.

Peter grinned. He would have felt bad for the guy, except for the fact that he deserved every minute of it. 

Ross started talking about the clean up of the base when Peter suddenly interrupted. 

"Is that 50 shades of grey?" he asked, pointing to a book at the edge of Ross' desk. 

Ross moved the camera. "No." He continued talking and Tony snickered. 

Peter didn't really understand all of the government stuff the team discussed, project he hadn't heard of, changes to the Accords that Peter didn't want to ask about because it was such a fragile topic, and a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. info that he generally didn't want to know.

"Look Rosalind," Tony said, earning a nice spray of water from Natasha actually, of all people, making everyone lose it. Tony somehow stayed in character and assured Ross that he would take care of the problem and talk to someone called Malcolm. 

"I'll meet him next week- Guys, seriously-" Tony turned around to the rest of the Avengers that were trying so hard to hide their laughs and glared at all of them, only making them laugh harder. "Really unprofessional. I'm trying to talk here. I'm sorry Ross-" 

Peter's laugh made Tony's lip curl and the minute they made eye contact at the end of his sentence Tony lost it and broke into a laugh, trailing off. 

"Do you enjoy this Stark?" Ross asked. 

Tony's face slackened and he nodded sincerely, "very much so, yes."

"I'm glad I amuse you," Ross sighed, looking at all the Avengers in distaste. 

"Yeah, me too," Tony winked at him. "So, anything else?"

"No, that's it," Ross grumbled. 

"Great, good talk," Tony said, going for the end call button. 

"Nice to meet you!" Peter called out. Ross glared at him and Peter grinned. Tony ended the call, laughing. 

"Isn't he just a joy talking to?" Tony asked Peter. 

"He hates us," Clint said, twirling his fork between his fingers. 

"Oh, no, he loves us," Sam grinned. Clint laughed loudly, tossing the fork into the dishwasher from halfway across the room. 

"Peter, you fit right in," Rhodey sighed. "See, this makes me look bad when you all do that; I'm supposed to defend him."

Tony wiggled his eyebrows, "Good luck with that."

"Who's up for a training session?" Clint asked. 

Everyone nodded in agreement and stood, still chattering as they all filed down the hallway back to their rooms to get changed. 

"Hey, hey, hey, not so fast Parker," Tony grabbed Peter's good shoulder as he tried to sprint to his room and steered him back to his side, making him walk slowly.

"I'm feeling great," Peter informed him. Then he looked up, asking, "Can I train?"

"Depends. How's the ribs?" Tony asked. 

Peter shrugged, "Healed. Same with ankle. Shoulder's getting better but not all the way there."

"Ok. Check with your Aunt first and then we'll see."

Peter sighed, "I don't want to bother her at work-"

"We're not 'hiking' again. Text her, and then we'll talk."

Peter pulled out his phone and quickly texted and then shoved it back in his pocket. Tony nodded, putting his arm around Peter's shoulders as they walked down the empty hallway.

"You know, school's Monday...maybe I could go back?" Peter asked slowly. 

Tony raised an eyebrow, "I do not know a single kid that would ever want to go back to school, but yeah, if you feel up for it, I'm not going to stop you."

Peter grinned, "Ok." He pulled out his phone suddenly and his smile got wider. "We're gonna kick their butts, she said yes."

Tony laughed, waving him off, "Skedaddle young buck. I'll meet you out there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love leaving out Cap for like everything because I feel like if this actually happened, I wouldn't talk to him for a long time. But because I'm a kinda nice person I do have to include him a bit so he has a (and I won't say redemption) but "attemptatmakingupfortheawfulthinghedid" moment because...my new years rev was to be nicer to Cap and so far I've failed.  
> Anywayyyyyyy stay tuned for last chapter! Thanks for reading, what did u think???  
> <3


	12. He Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for sticking with this. This has been one of my favoirte fics to write and I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope I did the idea justice mouth_breather011 and I hope everyone liked this story!  
> Stay tuned for some more marvel fics and thank you all so much for reading and supporting. Enjoy the last chapter <3  
> 

Peter put on the new suit he had been working on and grinned, "Hey Karen."

_"Hey Peter. Training session?"_

"Yep!" Peter said happily. "How's my shoulder doing? I told Tony I was fine, but I didn't really know- the adrenaline was kicking in so I-"

Karen cut off his rambling with a laugh, _"You should be ok. No hard jerks though."_ Karen warned him.

Peter moved his arm around, getting one full turn without wincing. He winced at the second one, but only slightly. He walked to the lab afterward, seeing Tony hunched over an Iron man helmet, zapping it with some electricity stick, fusing a wiring back in place. He turned to look over his shoulder.

"Fit ok?" Tony asked, recognizing the new suit.

"Perfect," Peter responded.

Tony smiled. "I need to get- hey Pete, do me a favor, stay here, make sure this doesn't blow up. I need to grab a tool from my room," Tony said, looking at him from head to toe, marveling at the suit.

"It's awesome," Peter admitted.

"Of course it is. I made it," Tony grinned, giving him a clap on his shoulder as he walked by.

Just as he left, the phone rang and Peter leaned backward to make sure Tony was gone before he answered. "Hello?"

_"Who is this?"_

"Who is this?"

 _"Thunderbolt Ross,"_ the man said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, hey man. Yeah sorry, Tony can't come to the phone right now," Peter said.

_"Is this...Spiderman?"_

"Ding ding ding. Yeah, maybe call back later," Peter said, shifting the phone against his ear. 

_"I have some important matters to discuss with Stark,"_ Ross insisted.

"And you didn't discuss them earlier?" Peter questioned. 

_"It wasn't for the team to hear."_

Peter wiggled his eyebrows, "What's it about?"

 _"I can't tell you!"_ Ross exclaimed. _"But I can tell you it's an urgent matter so if you could please-"_

"Then leave it urgently," Peter suggested.

 _"Listen here, son-"_

Peter stopped him, "First off, don't call me son. Second, is the world about to blow up? No? Then it's not urgent."

 _"You have got some mouth on you kid,"_ Ross snarled. _"You can get in a lot of trouble for this."_

"Yeah? And who are you going to take it up with? Everyone hates you," Peter said, "and do you know why?"

 _"Enlighten me,"_ Ross said sarcastically. 

"Because you're a jerk," Peter said simply. "The Avengers work their butts off for you, day and night. Tony doesn't sleep more than 20 hours every week because you have him doing all this crap that you're too lazy to do yourself. The Avengers saved the world countless times and you, an old man who's glass is always half empty, tries to tell them what to do behind your desk just to feel important. But you're not important. You're insecure Ross, it's so obvious, but maybe I'm the only one who can read you. You tell people what to do because you can't do it yourself and you want to be somewhat satisfied with the person in the mirror."

 _"Are you done?"_ Ross sighed. 

"No. I'm gonna hang up on you now," Peter decided. 

_"Kid, I am a military and government official, I wouldn't do that if I were you."_

"Thanks for the advice," Peter nodded. "Bye Ross."

_"Kid-"_

Peter hung up, grinning. 

Just then Tony walked into the lab as he closed the tab. Tony pointed, "Who was that?"

Before Peter could answer, Tony's personal phone started ringing and Tony transferred it to the main screen so he could set down the massive box he had in his hands. 

"Why the heck is Ross- sorry kid, I have to take this," Tony sighed, and Peter gulped. He hadn't expected Ross to be so intent on trying to reach Tony.

"What's poppin Thunderbolt?" Tony sighed before he joked, "Hey, tell your wife I won't make it over tonight." Then he whispered to Peter, "I'm just kidding- don't say that. That's inappropriate." 

Peter smirked. 

Ross sighed, used to Tony's jabs. "I _just spoke to Spiderman,"_ Ross snarled. 

Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter who gave him a weak smile. "Oh really?"

_"He insulted me, didn't allow me to reach you, and then hung up on me."_

"Aw he takes after me," Tony grinned, giving Peter a fist bump.

_"Yes, yes, like father like son, he's turning into a-"_

"Woah Ross. That's hurtful," Tony said, silently laughing with Peter. "What exactly did he say?"

"That he was an old man who's glass is always half empty, who tries to tell the Avengers what to do behind his desk just to feel important," Peter summed up. 

"I don't see anything wrong with telling the truth?" Tony asked, giving Peter a proud nod for his insult.

 _"Oh, he's still there,"_ Ross grumbled.

"Yes, yes he is. Say hi Peter," Tony grinned.

"Hey buddy!" Peter called and Tony laughed.

_"I could send him to jail, you know, for disclosing information and not allowing me access as a result of an urgent matter."_

Peter blanched, looking at Tony who grinned and shook his head, making a face at the phone. He mouthed, _no he can't._

"Is that so?" Tony crossed his arms. "Well, sure, send him to jail, just go through me first. Good luck with that. And make sure you get a good lawyer because I basically own them all. And Ross while we're on this topic, how did you get my personal phone?"

_"I-"_

"Are you my wife?" Tony asked. Peter snickered.

_"N-no-"_

"Are you my kid?" Tony asked again. 

_"Tony-"_

"Well..." Tony rubbed his goatee. "You're not my friend. So you shouldn't have this number."

_"Tony we have to discuss-"_

Tony stopped him, "Is the world blowing up? No? Then it's not urgent."

Peter straightened with pride at their similarity, remembering he had said roughly the same thing mere minutes ago.

Tony then laughed, "Oh look at that, I feel like hanging up now. Bye Ross," Tony said, cutting off Ross' threat as he hit the end call button. He gave Peter a wink. 

"Let's go Pete."

"Standard training. Teams of 2. Pull your punches, but still fight. It's about tactic and skill. Bruce will be the ref," Tony pointed at the doctor who waved from behind the glass. "Good luck."

Bruce came on the speaker, "I feel like I'm on a game show. What do I - do you want me to count down- watch me mess this up. Whatever, 3 2 1 go."

Sam immediately shot a tazer at Peter's feet. Peter's spider senses tingled and he jumped up, avoiding the clasp. He didn't even need to; Tony stepped in front and batted it away, blasting Sam in the chest and taking off. Peter webbed the wall and swung forward with him, looking over his shoulder as Sam got to his feet.

"Good try Samantha," Tony called. 

"Shut up," Sam said, blasting up into the rafters. 

"Ok, who do we want to take out?" Tony asked, perched in their corner. He and Peter usually won, mostly because they worked so well as a team. 

"Well, Sam's going to avoid us for a bit," Peter guessed. 

"Sam's with Rhodey I think, right?" Tony asked.

Peter nodded.

"So, Cap and Bucky?" Tony shrugged, frowning, "I've been wanting to kick Steve's-"

"Vision's off guard. If we can separate him and Wanda..." Peter trailed off. 

"Incoming," Tony said simply and Peter heard it too. An arrow sank into the wall right between both of their heads. Tony grinned, pulling it out and laughing down to Clint. 

"You mi-"

Peter saw the blinking and he smacked it out of Tony's hands, tackling him off their ledge and swinging to the ground. The whole corner blew up as he and Peter tumbled to the ground. Clint was laughing. 

"I never mi-" he yelled before Peter sent a web grenade his way and Clint was forced to jump and slide to a stop at the war, narrowly avoiding the sticky webbing. 

"Neither do i," Peter called.

Tony grinned and looked at him. "So, what do you say?"

"Ok, remember that really old movie Ferris Bueller's day off?" Peter asked, his mask receding to his neck, his brown curls popping up. 

"It's not...old..." Tony muttered, glad his helmet was covering up his grey hair he was suddenly so self conscious about. 

"Right..." Peter winced, "sorry. Anyway, he used a voice recording on his doorbell. We can set up a voice recording here, and set up a trap for Vision with those zappy things that Clint used to slow him down once. He'll come over and then you light it up. I'll take care of Wanda."

"You and your stupid plans," Tony shook his head.

"They're stupid, but they seem to always work," Peter grinned, swinging up.

Peter dropped and crouched, running along the side of the wall. Suddenly a shield clattered to the floor in front of him and Peter peeked around the corner seeing Cap and Sam locked in hand to hand combat. Peter grinned and grabbed the shield, throwing it as far as he could across the room. It clattered to the other end of the building without Cap even noticing. 

"Good throw," Natasha laughed, stepping out behind the crate 30 feet ahead of him, "Nice one kid. Get out of here, I'm giving you a pass, that was funny."

Peter laughed and swung over her head. 

Wanda had just blasted Sam back with a burst of red magic when Peter dropped to the ground behind her. 

Tony had taken care of Vision after making a few JARVIS jokes, the android stuck in a zappy force field behind the crates, Tony blasting the mario cart theme song inside the electro bubble. Peter came swinging back towards him and landed in perfect form, his bright eyes gleaming. 

"Wanda and I need to talk more. She hasn't seen Star Wars," Peter said. 

Tony grinned, "What did you do?"

"I blew her mind. And then I webbed her to the wall. I cut her down though, she's out. But she was going easy on me," Peter grumbled. 

"It's your face. You're like a kicked puppy," Tony said. 

Peter's face scrunched into a frown. "I'm not a- hey!"

"Sam and Rhodey are out," Tony changed the subject. 

Peter scowled, suddenly looking like he was trying to not look like a puppy. He lowered his voice, "Who got em?"

"Pete- stop- stop. No," Tony rolled his eyes at the kid's attempt to make his voice lower. "Romanov and Barton."

"Ok, seriously, again with the shield," Tony heard Cap call from halfway across the room. 

Peter suppressed a giggle, his forehead going back as he tried to keep from laughing. "It's by the far wall."

"Did you do that?" Tony smirked. 

"Definitely not," Peter grinned. "I have a great arm though." Suddenly he tensed and pushed Tony aside as another arrow embedded where his head was. They both turned. 

"Again with the arrow to the head?" Tony asked. The arrow tip exploded and Tony cried out, sparking restraints clamping down magnetically to the crate, locking Tony's arms in place. 

Peter jumped to his feet, crouching to the floor. 

"Kid, go," Tony groaned, before he let out a strained laugh, "What the heck are these made out of?"

Clint ran forward and motioned for Peter to move. "Kid move, this is payback. Tony got me out last time."

"Yeah, no way. Go through me then," Peter said, narrowing his eyes. Clint threw another one of the clamps and Peter readied himself. 

"Tazer web," he whispered, disabling the clamps as they hit him. He pretended to slam his arm into the crate and yanked on it. "Crap," he muttered.

"Good try kid," Clint grinned, taking the bait and setting down his bow, walking forward to touch the tip of his arrow against Tony's arc reactor. 

_"He's disabling the suit if he makes contact,"_ Karen informed him. 

"Oh he won't get that far," Peter said, jumping up and kicking Clint in the side. Barton went flying and Peter webbed his hand to the wall before he threw the clamp, hitting him right in the gut. 

"Nice one," Clint groaned, doubling over and wincing at his crotch. "Good thing I already have kids."

"Agents," Tony corrected. "They're agents."

"They're my kids Stark!" Clint laughed, groaning again. "Oh, I'm getting too old for this."

Peter knelt by Tony's side and broke off one clamp after the other, snapping them in half. 

_"Guys?"_ That was Bruce from the comms.

Tony put a hand to his ear. "Yeah?"

_"Look up."_

One of the tall structures was leaning, slowly falling into the wall. It crashed and held, making everyone jumped, but it looked like it was ok. The building was holding and the room was silent. 

"Woah," Peter breathed, backing up. 

"FRIDAY structural report," Tony demanded. 

_"For right now, stable, but when that thing buckles, I won't be able to say the same."_

"Ok, training's over. Let's get out. Now," Tony relayed. He pointed at Wanda, "Go get Vision. He's listening to the mario cart theme song on blast behind the conex."

"Steve, I'll get your shield," Nat said, "I'm closest."

"Nat, don't go over there," Tony said. 

"I'll go around," she assured him, jogging past the building. 

_"Tony! Tension spiking to 80%. The main structure's lodged in a ridge. It could bring the whole right wall crashing down."_

"Nat, get back here now," Tony said urgently. 

Before Tony could stop him, Peter swung forward. "I got her."

"Pete wait-" Tony said, grasping for him, about to fire up his boots.

"Tony!" Sam shouted, "Move!"

Tony looked up, FRIDAY also yelling at him to get out of the way as one of the main rafters fell. He spiraled out, ignoring the rafter that crashed down a few feet from him, instead, hovering in mid air, scanning for Peter. Another rafter fell and someone let out a cry of pain. Tony got a glimpse of the shine in Peter's red and blue suit, the kid swinging towards the far corner and skidding to a stop. 

"Nat!" he heard through the comms as the kid climbed over the rafter and dissapeared behind a conex.

"PETE!" Tony yelled. 

"I'm fine!" Peter relayed back, "Nat's stuck. It's on her ankle, I'm gonna lift it."

"I'm coming Pete-" Tony said but suddenly there was a hand on his arm.

"Tony- Wanda's trapped. She covered Vision and it's pinning her-" Sam said urgently. Tony cursed and flew over, grasping one side of the rafter while Rhodey grabbed the other. 

"Wanda, you're ok. Vision, get ready to get her out of there, got it?" Tony said. 

_"Tony- the ceiling on the far-"_ FRIDAY's voice broke. He looked over his shoulder, his heart dropping to his throat as he saw a crack forming in the ceiling. 

"Oh God," Tony whispered. "Ok guys, let's lift. Hurry." 

Peter grabbed the edge of the rafter, his mask receding to his neck. "Nat, I'm gonna lift it ok?"

"Peter- it's too heavy," Nat said.

"Not for me, and not for this," Peter held up Cap's shield. "Wedge it underneath when I say, ok?"

Nat nodded, straining to grasp the shield. She grasped the side and slid it toward her, extending as far as she could with her leg that was wedged between the edge of a barrier and the rafter. 

Peter gripped the nearest metal rung and spread his legs, bending his knees. This was going to be really, really heavy. He took a deep breath and exhaled, pushing up as hard as he could. Slowly but surely he lifted the rafter. Nat held up the shield, ready to shove it underneath when suddenly Peter looked up. The ceiling was cracking and Peter cursed.

"Go- Peter go-" Nat said urgently. 

"No way!" Peter shook his head, still lifting the rafter higher. 

"Peter, you've got to get out of here," Nat said, still trying to free her leg. 

A section of ceiling fell on the right side, crashing into the rafter Peter was trying to lift up. He stumbled but kept it from crushing her, his arms shaking as he held the weight. Dust flew up and small bits of rock bounced up and Peter coughed, adjusting his grip and digging his feet into the ground.

"PETER!" 

Peter heard Tony's yell from that far away. He strained to keep the rafter up, and tried to raise it even higher. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and Peter looked up. Cap was there and he took his place at Peter's side. 

"Get ready to lift with me Peter, ok? You're taking most of it, but I'll help you out-" Steve said firmly.

Peter nodded, pursing his lips, "O-okay."

He and Steve lifted and Peter grit his teeth, his whole body shaking as he lifted the rafter with Cap. Cap strained as well, looking over in awe at Peter who was indeed, taking most of the weight. Nat wedged the shield in between the rafter and the ground and Steve exchanged a nod with Peter. 

"You got it?" Cap made sure. 

"Yeah, I got it. Get here out of here," Peter said through gritted teeth.

The shield took a good half of the weight and Peter held the rest as Cap crouched and grabbed Nat's waist, pulling her from the rubble. She got to her feet and Steve pushed her forward gently, waving her on. 

"Go!" Cap grabbed his shield out from under the rafter and Peter let it drop. It crashed to the ground, making the floor shake and Peter shook out his hands. Suddenly, Peter's spider senses tingled and he looked up, cursing loudly. A section fell, heading for Steve who didn't brace in time. 

Time went in slow motion for Peter, who wondered what to do. He could get him out of the way in time, he knew that. But then again, Cap had turned him in. 

_"People who care about one another do crazy, dangerous, and sometimes bad things for the people they love. But that doesn't make them the bad guy Steve."_

Peter cursed, looking at Cap who was staring up, slowly bringing his shield to cover his head but they both knew it wouldn't get up in time. Peter made up his mind and lunged, tackling Steve as hard as he could, pushing him out of the way.

Cap fell backward, sliding along the ground, watching as Peter got caught in the shoulder.

"No-" Cap's cry was cut short as Peter was slammed into the ground, his head smacking into the floor. Peter groaned, his eyesight going fuzzy, the weight of his head- Peter's eyes closed and he didn't get up, going limp against the ground, his curls falling over his eyes.

"Kid!" Steve scrambled over, shoving the rocks away from Peter and rolling him over. Peter's head lolled, his eyes shut, a cut bleeding from underneath his hair, his cheek bloodied as well.

Steve checked for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he found one. Then there was a sudden cracking from above and Cap grabbed Peter's small form. He pulled him backward, pushing the kid against the nearest conex, his arm still around him, raising his shield over his head to shield both of them. The ceiling came down, and Steve grit his teeth as thousands of rocks fell on them, hitting his shield at full force. Cap kept the shield up, his arm shaking but extended, letting out a strangled cry, closing his eyes.

"PETER!" Tony yelled, scrambling to get to his feet. The ceiling had caved and blown all of them back.

"Wanda, with me!" Tony said. Wanda limped forward, still in a lot of pain. She thrust her hands up, hovering over in front of the pile of still falling rocks.

"Can you stop that?" Tony demanded, pointing at the still cracking ceiling.

Wanda pursed her lips and raised her hands, red energy pulsing and absorbing in the ceiling. Vision flew up and used his mind stone to meld the cracks. "Nat?" Tony said suddenly, rushing forward to grab his friend. Nat scrambled out of the rubble, holding her leg and pointing. 

"Where is he? Where is he?" Tony demanded, helping her out and handing her off to Clint who put her arm around her shoulder. 

Nat pointed, coughing, covered in dusk. "They went under the rubble-"

Tony shot forward, blasting through whatever stood in his way. 

"PETER!" Tony yelled, "FRIDAY, scan!"

_"100 feet to your left. Under that massive section of concrete. I'm getting 2 heat signatures."_

Tony grabbed the piece of concrete and threw it aside, waiting for the dust to clear. The shield was covering 2 people, one hunched over the other. Tony watched the star tilt and Cap breathlessly let the shield fall, rocks sliding off of it's dusty top. Peter was limp in his arms and Tony choked, staggering forward and reaching out to take Peter from Cap who was coughing from the dust. 

Tony grabbed Peter, pulling him into his arms and brushing hair from his face. Peter's eyes were closed and Tony's heart stopped. "Pete..." he whispered. 

"He's alive," Cap coughed. "Just unconscious."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as FRIDAY confirmed Cap's statement. Tony looked up at Steve, still holding Peter tightly to his chest, the kid's head lolling softly against his shoulder. "You good?"

"Yeah," Cap winced. 

Tony held Peter with one hand and offered Steve his other. Cap gratefully took it and Tony helped him to his feet. Tony scooped up Peter and nodded at Cap as the team came running, all gathering in the rubble. 

Bucky clapped Steve on the shoulder and Nat went over to Tony's side, putting her hand on his arm. "Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's ok," Tony smiled weakly. 

"You're an idiot," Tony said, glaring at Peter who smiled weakly at him from the couch, holding an ice pack to his head. 

"I'm a hero," Peter slurred, wiggling his eyebrows. 

"A dumb one," Tony scoffed, giving Peter an affectionate pat on the shoulder, getting up to grab some coffee. The rest of the Avengers came in, gathering around Peter, so Tony knew he'd be ok while he was gone.

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee, pouring some steaming lifesaving liquid into his favorite mug. He turned around just as Steve walked in. Tony offered him the pot of coffee. "Hey."

"Hey," Steve said, grabbing a mug and letting Tony pour it. 

"How's Nat?" Tony asked, leaning against the counter.

"Broken ankle. Other than that, ok," Steve nodded.

"Good," Tony said, taking a sip. 

Silence. 

"This doesn't change what you did," Tony said suddenly. It was harsh. Mean, even, but he wanted to get it off his chest. 

"I know it doesn't," Steve said back without missing a beat. "I didn't do it for redemption."

"Ok Mr. righteous," Tony said slowly, rolling his eyes. Then he got serious, looking up at Cap, "you- you saved his life. Thank you." 

Steve nodded, gesturing into the living room, "he did the same for me. Pushed me out of the way actually, that's how he got knocked unconscious. I grabbed him and just braced. Then you found us."

"He's too good of a kid," Tony sighed, looking up at him. "I would have let you get hit." 

Steve laughed, knowing he was kidding and Tony gave him a smirk. It wasn't perfect, but it was mending.

_"Can you STOP getting hurt for once!"_ May yelled through the phone. 

Peter winced, pulling the speaker away from his ear. "Sorry May."

May took a deep breath. _"Do you need me to drive there?"_

"No, I've got a bump on my head, that's all," Peter assured her, not wanting his Aunt to drive all that way, or to see his real state; Peter hadn't gotten cleaned up yet, his face was still pretty torn up. 

_"A concussion,"_ FRIDAY corrected.

"Shut up FRIDAY," Peter hissed. 

_"What was that?"_ May asked suspiciously.

"FRIDAY said uh lunch is ready," Peter squeezed his eyes shut, opening one in anticipation.

 _"You're gonna be the death of me one day,"_ May laughed. 

Peter flinched, his face paling. 

_"No," Peter sobbed, recoiling and taking his hand off the stone he was leaning on. His eyes found two words and he stumbled backwards, falling again, and scrambling back on his elbows._

_The tombstone read: May Parker._

Peter gulped, faking a smile, "Hope not."

 _"Feel better sweetie. Love you,"_ May said, oblivious to Peter's current state.

Peter licked his lips, "Love you too." He hung up the phone and curled his hand in a fist. Just then Tony sat down next to him, putting his arm behind Peter on the couch. 

"Well that was eventful," Tony sighed, rubbing his goatee with his other hand. 

"Yeah," Peter laughed, immediately calming down now that Tony was next to him.

"Do me a favor though," Tony said, "heal? Please? Take it easy. A week, all I'm asking." He put up his hands in defense.

"Fine," Peter laughed. 

"I can't get a break with you I swear," Tony said, looking over at him. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"It's gonna hurt," Tony said slowly.

"No crap," Peter raised his eyebrow at him and Tony thought 2 things. 1. How much he looked like him when he did that which was scary, and 2. why Peter raised his eyebrow in the first place. It made Tony's heart hurt to know that Peter was ready for pain after what he had been through. 

Peter pulled up his shirt, exposing his bare back. He gathered the material in his fist, yanking the hem over to his collarbone to peel the cotton off the cut he had gotten from the rock catching him in the shoulder. Tony sucked in a breath and Peter scoffed.

"That bad?"

"No," Tony assured him, but he was lying, Peter could tell. He was one of the only few that actually could.

Peter rolled his eyes. Tony wiped it with alcohol and Peter tensed, biting his lip. He felt blood trickling down his back; his healing powers had closed up the cut around his shirt, so peeling that off was like ripping stitches. 

"You ok?" Tony asked, threading the sewing needle.

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Tony tossed him an ice pack for his swelling cut across his cheekbone and Peter nodded in thanks, pressing it gently against the cut. 

Tony threaded the needle through Peter's skin and he winced, breathing in hard through his nose, his hands curling into fists. He winced again as it passed through his skin for the second time. 

"Don't do that again," Tony grumbled. 

Peter suppressed a smile, barely feeling the next stitch, "Do what?"

"Run off like that. You just charged in, without thinking, without me," Tony pointed out. 

Peter grinned, wincing with every stitch Tony threaded. He managed to look over his shoulder and ask, "What, were you worried?"

"Yeah!" Tony said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, when my kid goes running towards a collapsing ceiling with no care in the world, that tends to get the heart pumping a bit Pete."

"Sorry," Peter grinned. 

Tony hit a sensitive spot with the needle, pricking Peter's skin a little to deeply and Peter suddenly jerked, arching his back and curling his hand into a fist. He shifted in his seat, biting his hand after letting out a sharp, "Tony! Tony..." Tears pricked at his eyes and he clenched and unclenched his fingers.

"Hey, relax bud. You're ok," Tony assured him. "I had to go deeper. I'm not letting you get infected."

"Gee thanks," Peter said, hissing as he felt another prick in his shoulder. His knee was shaking, unable to stop and Peter took an uneven breath, shaking his head to try and clear some of the tension. 

A minute later Peter twisted in the seat, as the needle slid through his skin, nicking the cut. Peter squeezed his eyes shut, resisting the urge to bolt out of the chair, instead letting out a strangled cry of pain, "God- come on. Tony-"

He bit his lip, knowing Tony was doing the best he could, and a very good job at that, but the man didn't snap back. He winced instead, muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry- one more...

"Done," Tony announced hurriedly, snipping the thread and tying it at the end. He clapped Peter on his good shoulder, "See? Wasn't so bad."

Peter nodded grimly, agreeing with him as he pulled his shirt back down and took a deep breath. 

"Better?" Tony asked, looking at him in concern. 

Peter gave him a weak smile and nodded, extending his arm, "Yeah, better, thanks."

"I'm doing a great job, aren't I?" Tony said suddenly, sarcastically. 

"What?" 

"You're home now," Tony said, laughing almost. "You should be safe here. And all you've done is get hurt. I don't care what you say Parker, it's on me."

"Tony," Peter gave him a look. 

"I told you everyone who's close to me gets hurt. I told you that. This is proof," Tony said plainly. He got up and starting putting the supplies away. 

"No it's not," Peter protested, "I can take care of myself. It's my fault for getting into those situations anyway! Heck, I convinced Cap to take the deal-"

"No you didn't."

"I begged you to let me go with you on that recall mission-"

"I could have said no."

"No you couldn't have. It's me."

"True."

"And then I ran off without backup and without thinking. How is that your fault?" Peter asked. 

"Because you're my responsibility," Tony said plainly. Peter had expected him to be stumped but Tony clearly wasn't. "You're my responsibility. If you get hurt, it's on me. Because I dragged you into this mess when you were 14, I've caused you to lose so much Peter, and I-" Tony trailed off, turning away to throw the needle in the trash can.

Peter stayed quiet. 

_"Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt Nat. And I know that's just part of this job, but I don't know, I guess I just wished that Peter would be the exception. But he was far from that," Tony said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he and Nat walked down the hallway. Tony shrugged, "I think that's one of the reasons I never thought about having a family- having kids I mean."_

_"Because you'd put them in danger?" Nat asked, tucking a strand of her ginger hair back in her braid._

_"Because I've already got a kid," Tony admitted. "He's the closest thing I've got to a son."_

"Tony?" Peter asked. 

Tony turned around, giving him a smile, "Yeah kid?"

"I have a confession to make," Peter said. Tony raised his eyebrow. 

"A couple days ago. You were talking to Nat in the hallway. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," Tony said slowly, crossing his arms. 

"Yeah," Peter nodded, giving him a weak smile. "Well, I...uh, I was sort of- I wouldn't call it spying, but more like overhearing and observing your conversation with my drone?"

Tony smirked.

Peter sobered his tone then, looking up at Tony, asked, "You said that you didn't think about starting a family because you had me. Did you mean that?" Peter said quietly. "Do you really think of me like a son?"

Tony locked gazes with him and after a second of horrible anticipation, Tony nodded sincerely. "Yeah Peter...yeah, I do."

Peter didn't know what to say to that. Tony hadn't said that before. I mean, of course both of them acted like it. It became normality, but it had never been said.

Peter gulped, looking down, tears coming to his eyes as he choked out, "You sure you want that?"

"I don't know where you're going with this," Tony said, looking at Peter with utter confusion in his comforting gaze.

"I mean, everyone who gets close to me gets hurt too. My friends. My parents. My uncle. May, on multiple occasions. The Avengers. And you," Peter said quietly. He rested his forearms on his knees, biting his lip.

"I've lost my dad and I lost Uncle Ben-" Peter shook his head, looking up at Tony with tearful eyes. "I can't lose you too."

"You won't," Tony promised. "You won't."

Peter gave him a smile. They could have hugged. Looking back, Peter was glad they hadn't. Because they didn't need to. 

"And I knew you were spying on me," Tony said suddenly after a second of content silence. 

Peter straightened, "You did?"

"Yeah," Tony grinned. "FRIDAY alerted me when the drone left the suit and later I hacked into the footage. I knew you were listening."

Tony had known he would have heard him call him a son. "And you said it anyway," Peter said softly. 

Tony shrugged, "it needed to be said."

Peter grinned. 

Tony ruffled his hair and winked at him as he walked to the door, "And it is a onesie. I made it, I should know."

"It's not a onesie!" Peter protested, following him. 

"Alright Underoos," Tony said, putting his arm around Peter as they walked out. "Now stick close, we don't want you falling and somehow getting another concussion."

Tony went in the lab to pick up something and Peter stayed outside as Nat came limping down the hallway, her ankle in a boot. 

"I heard that nice conversation in the med bay," she grinned. 

Peter blushed. 

"No, don't be embarrassed. It needed to be said," Nat laughed, rolling her eyes and giving him a smile with pursed lips. "Finally."

Peter grinned. 

"You didn't say I love you though," Nat noticed, being deadly serious and she motioned at Tony who was shuffling through papers at the farthest table. "It figured like the right moment to."

Peter had a small smile on his face and turned back to Nat. "He knows."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was a good conclusion??? Tony and Peter don't need to say it, which is why they don't in the movies. Because they both already know. Fight me :)  
> Thanks again for reading!!! Seriously guys thank you so much <3  
> Please tell me how you liked it and I'm open to requests (Supernatural one shot is next tho so it will be after that) Also check out a request I just started: collateral damage, and any of the other fics on my bio that I'm sure yall will like.  
> I love you all 3000 <3


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